Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril
by Bonesboy15
Summary: The summer after the Quest for Artemis, Naruto has his hands full with guilt, concern and frustration. When Bianca's strange illness takes a turn for the worse, a quest is started. A relationship is strained, a hero returns, and the Labyrinth is found. Join Naruto as he begins his Quest for The Cure.
1. I

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**I**

* * *

_"I'm sick of you lying to me, Whiskers! Can't you just trust me?" Thalia asked as they stood in a dark corridor, the area lit by a torch. She was wearing his white and red flame covered jacket, a black shirt and black jeans underneath it. Around her neck was a chord with her tree adorned with the Golden Fleece, representing her 'first' year at Camp Half-Blood._

_"I do, Thalia-chan!" Naruto retorted. He wore his usual carpenter jeans with two kunai pouches on either thigh, and a plain orange shirt with a black arrow pointing up. Around his neck was the same chord a different pendant hanging from it, one of a silver arrow representing his first quest to save his aunt. It wasn't a camp pendant, but a custom one made by his aunt in gratitude, as a way to show that he had her support. The blond Guardian continued, "I couldn't tell you about him then because it wasn't safe to! We were on a quest!"_

_"Then why didn't you tell me afterwards?" Thalia shot back, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at him, "I had a right to know!"_

_"You don't think I know that?" Naruto said to her with as much anger at himself that he had with the situation he was now in, "There was no safe time for me to tell you! Rai-Jiji might have killed me on the spot if I did!"_

_"Well maybe you should have anyway!" Thalia cried out, "He's my **brother,** Naruto, and you've known he was alive this whole time!"_

_"And it's been tearing me up inside that I couldn't tell you, Thalia-chan!" Naruto tiredly explained, grabbing her shoulders as he spoke to her. His words became muffled and unintelligible, but they resulted in the girl opening and closing her mouth before embracing him in a hug, burrowing her head in his chest. They stayed like that before the ground shook around them._

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he shot upwards in his bed within Camp Half-Blood's 13th Cabin. His chest heaved lightly with each pant and he put his left hand to his head. Groaning, he squeezed his eyes shut and plopped back down on his bed. That was the fifth time since April that he's had that dream and like the four times before, he was going to go mad all the upcoming day trying to figure out what the Hell it meant.

He sat up once again, this time stretching and yawning as he did so, his own path down insanity could be put aside for now. There was some shuffling at the foot of his bed and Naruto smiled down at his pet and what some of the campers were referring to as his symbolic animal. Reaching down, the blond guardian scratched the large dog-sized Smilodon cat behind his left ear, earning himself a deep rumbling purr in thanks. According to some of Annabeth's books she had acquired from her father's library, Ranger and his siblings were still in their youths and would grow to stand at a good four feet in height and about ten feet in length with about one ton of muscle spread throughout their body. The only downside to this information was that Ranger loved to cuddle, and Naruto wasn't one hundred percent positive, but he was pretty sure his legs wouldn't be able to handle a two thousand pound cat lying across them. Soon he'd have to start pushing the dog-like cat off of his bed and convince Ranger to sleep on the floor.

"Morning, Range," Naruto greeted the now yawning prehistoric animal before slipping out of the bed and grabbing his clothes. He then went to the Cabin's bathroom, and after double-checking, entered when he was sure the younger of the di Angelo siblings wasn't using it. After his quick shower, Naruto exited the bathroom while pulling his Camp Half-Blood shirt on, pulling his camp necklace out and looking at the silver arrow that dangled from it.

_What does it mean, Auntie Arte?_ Wondered the reincarnated God as he slipped his combat sandals on. He walked to the bedroom of his charges, knocking twice lightly before entering with Ranger in tow. The room was slate gray, similar to the throne room of Hades when said God wasn't trying to be intimidating with his obsidian throne and pillars. Nico was already up, sitting at his sister's bedside with a worried look on his face.

After their trip to the Underworld over the winter to meet their father and stepmother (and Naruto's own mother who absolutely adored them, considering her company without children), Bianca had come down with an unrecognizable disease that Naruto, for the life of him, couldn't make heads or tails of. One day she'd have a fever, the next she'd be as cold as the dead. The day before she was puking up black sludge, and the day before that she walked around drunker than a centaur after the annual Party Pony Get Together. Don't ask how Naruto knew what that was like, because _that_ was a _really_ _weird_ summer.

"How're you feeling today, Be-chan?" Naruto asked softly as he knelt down next to her, placing a hand on her arm and trying to once more get an accurate reading on what the hell was wrong with his charge. Since he was young, Naruto had been blessed with the ability to accurately determine an injury or illness to keep himself alive. It was a very rare ability ingrained in the core of every descendant of Apollo. When he asked why none of his other siblings had gotten this perk yet, Apollo explained that they hadn't earned it, which Naruto sadly understood. Apollo, despite loving all his children, had an ego the size of (if not larger than) Olympus and only the most impressive of his children would unlock the ability. Naruto has had to brave loneliness and discrimination for the earliest years of his life, both of which were challenges no child of Apollo had yet to face. Sure, some of them had Mom's who could care less, but at least they knew who their parents were.

"Like...crap," the now pale girl said honestly with a small smile before lifting her arm to cough into it. Naruto smiled back at her gently while Ranger sat next to the girl's brother, nudging at the boy's arm with his head and trying to snap him out of the funk the empathic prehistoric cat could sense. Nico started scratching the giant cat behind the ears and frowned when Bianca's coughing didn't stop until after a good fifteen minutes.

Naruto formed his favorite hand seal and summoned a **Kage Bunshin**, looking at it and ordering, "Take care of her."

"Duh, Oyabun," the clone replied with a roll of his eyes.

"I mean it, no slacking off," sternly instructed the castor. The clone saluted. Looking himself in the eye for any sign of insubordination, you just couldn't tell with clones half the time, Naruto then turned to Nico and said, "Alright, let's let Bianca get some rest Nico."

"Later Bianca," Nico quietly said as he and Ranger stood up to leave the room, "Feel better."

"Thanks Nico," the girl weakly replied before smiling at Naruto, "You too, Naruto."

"Just rest, Be-chan," softly replied her Guardian as he ruffled her hair lightly, getting swatted away for the action. Chuckling he turned and left after his other charge, who looked too depressed to actually leave his sister behind. Naruto gently guided the younger boy out of the cabin and they both walked towards the dining pavilion.

"Naruto," Nico's voice broke their silence, making the tall blond look down to him, "Is...Is Bianca going to die?"

"Nico, how could you ask that?" Naruto asked as they came to a stop. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled at him reassuringly, "Bianca will be back on her feet before you know it. She's a strong girl. Gets it from her Father...and so do you."

Nico smiled lightly at that before he glanced back at the cabin, "But...she's been sick for so long...Are you sure your Dad can't do anything?"

"I've asked him for all the help he could give me but as I've said before, not even Athena knows all," answered the blond, patting his young charge's shoulder reassuringly, "I'll find a way to help her."

"You think so?" Nico replied.

"I'd bet my life on it, 'ttebayo," Naruto said before looking to the side and cursing, "I thought I got rid of that."

Nico stared at him in confusion but smiled as he thought about his Guardian's words. If anyone could help his sister, Naruto could. He was the strongest person, aside from Mr. D., in the Camp.

"I'll hold you to that, Naruto," Nico said before grinning, "And Bianca wouldn't want me to worry. Like you said, she's strong!"

Naruto beamed at the younger boy's positive attitude and ruffled his hair, "There ya go, kiddo! Let's go get some grub, eh?"

* * *

After a healthy breakfast courtesy of the wood nymphs and satyrs of Camp Half-Blood, Naruto parted ways with Nico as the younger demigod had to go practice beginner's archery with Lee and the other members of Cabin Seven. He had a free day, so to speak, and how else would he spend it but with the girl he's been dreaming about...literally.

So Naruto found himself standing outside of Zeus' Cabin, looking at the door and wondering if he should just tell her about Jason now while she was still drowsy. It would be the perfect time to do so, wouldn't it? Would it change anything that he saw? Would she understand now if he explained it to her? Would the dreams stop?

Hard to say, seeing as his past life had not been talking to him lately. The day after he had the first dream was the last time he spoke with Helios. The once Faded God had said he would try to find out what the dream had meant and then poof! He was gone. No words, not even a snigger at any jokes he made, there was nothing.

And right now, Naruto hated that he had to figure this out on his own. He looked up at the inscription of the eagle above Zeus' Cabin. Taking a deep breath, Naruto raised his arm to knock on the Cabin door when he heard the clattering of bronze against bronze. Turning around, he found the new beginner's swordsmanship trainer, Quintus standing in front of his Hellhound Mrs. O'Leary, who appeared as a large tank-sized black mastiff, against Percy's blade Riptide with a blade of his own. Quintus was a man in his fifties, somewhat wearing a bronze chest plate over his camp T-shirt, black mountain climbing cargos and boots.

**"So the daughter of Athena did go and retrieve her boyfriend,"** Kyu commented from his place around Naruto's wrist. The spirit manifested itself next to the blond as he felt some chakra filter into the bracelet. He nodded to the fight ahead of them, **"Jackson's been practicing his swordplay...with a stick apparently."**

"At least he's practicing," Naruto murmured before he teleported from his place outside of Zeus' Cabin and reappeared between the two swordsmen. His eyes burst into gold orbs of light with two blue suns and he caught the edges of the swords with his now glowing hands before they could collide once more. Pushing the weapons down, the blond then fell out of his God Mode as he dubbed it. Narrowing his normal unique eyes at the new teacher, Naruto spoke with disapproval, "I don't know if you know this, Quintus, but we try _not_ to fight Campers outside of activities."

"Ah, sorry about that, Naruto," the older man apologized, lowering his blade and then gesturing to the Hellhound, "But it seems this young man tried to kill Mrs. O'Leary."

"I see," Naruto nodded before looking to the still amazed Percy, "Water Boy, what have I told you about diving headfirst into something?"

"Uh...make sure you have all the information before you do?" Percy sheepishly answered as he recapped Riptide, "Sorry, guess I jumped the gun."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Naruto admonished the teen, "You saw a Hellhound and reacted appropriately, you just had the one millionth of a chance of running into the one Hellhound that Camp Half-Blood welcomes."

"Right...So what's been new for you?" Percy asked as Quintus and Mrs. O'Leary walked away. The raven haired teen shoved Riptide's pen form back into his pocket and gave a wry grin to the older demigod, "Haven't seen or heard from you since the Christmas."

Naruto arched a brow and crossed his arms over his chest, "I've been well."

**"Ha! That's an understatement,"** Kyu mocked as he rematerialized next to Naruto and making Percy jump,** "If by 'well' you mean fighting off that Daughter of Aphrodite's affections, trying to figure out what your dreams mean without your past life's help, being in a relationship with a feisty demigoddess and trying to keep one of your charges alive, then yeah, you're doing fantastic, Kit."**

"'Daughter of Aphrodite's affections'?" Percy repeated in confusion. Naruto looked away, his cheeks tinting pink lightly as his spirit companion roared with laughter.

**"Oh yes! This girl, Drew Tan-something, has been trying to use her mother's gift on the Kit any chance she gets,"** snorted the once monster as his massive arms crossed. He was elbowed in the gut by Naruto, whose eyes had shut in an effort to calm himself down.

"Stuff it, Fuzzball!" growled the blond Guardian before glaring at Percy, "This doesn't leave us, got it?"

"S-Sure...I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that someone's trying to steal you away from Thalia," Percy said, making his increased awareness of the world around him known to the two. The raven-haired demigod watched as Naruto nervously shifted from one foot to the other while Kyu gained a twinkle in his eye. Having heard of this sort of thing from television, Percy's mouth slightly became ajar and he stuttered out, "Y-You haven't told Thalia yet, have you?"

Naruto looked away once more and shoved his hands into his pockets, mumbling sheepishly, "It's not a big deal."

Percy opened and closed his mouth before thinking about it. Maybe he was just putting too much thought into it. Perhaps he shouldn't have spent that whole day watching his Mom's soaps with her. His opinions on relationships were screwy enough as it is with his Dad's situation.

"Ah, Percy! And Naruto, this is perfect!" Chiron said as he trotted up to the two demigods. He then nodded uneasily in the spirit's direction, "Kyubi."

**"Hello Pony,"** Kyu greeted with an obvious smile beneath his mask. Naruto quirked a smile and Percy coughed to cover up a chuckle while Chiron harrumphed.

"Pony indeed," huffed the centaur before he looked at the two Demigods, "You both need to come with me."

"Is something wrong with that guy Clarice brought back?" Naruto asked as he followed the centaur.

"Clarisse," Chiron corrected, "And no. It has to do with Grover."

"Grover?!" Percy parroted in concern for his friend, "What's wrong with Grover?"

"Grover's fine, he's just...in a bit of trouble with the Council of Cloven Elders," Chiron explained, "He needs some friends to give him support."

"What are we waiting for?" asked the Son of Poseidon before running off in a random direction.

"Percy wait you don't..." Chiron sighed as the teen ran out of sight before he lamely finished, "Know where we're going."

"Kid's got heart, you have to give him that," Naruto said with a smile as he and his snickering spirit followed the centaur to recover the teen.

* * *

Once they had managed to rescue Percy from his misguided sense of direction, the two demigods were dropped off in a glade deep in the forests of Camp Half-Blood. Kyu dissipated back into his bracelet and Chiron left to resume other duties, aware that his presence wouldn't help Grover, but may hinder his argument.

Percy and Naruto walked over to Annabeth and Clarisse's side, the eldest demigod nodding to the two girls while Percy opened his mouth to speak, only to be shushed by Annabeth who was comforting a petite elfish girl crying green tears. Percy stared at the amber haired girl, trying to make heads or tails of where she had seen her before. Taking pity on the younger teen, Naruto leaned over and whispered, "That's Juniper, Grover's girlfriend. She's a dryad."

"Grover has a girlfriend?!" Percy hissed in surprised, only to be silenced as one of the older Satyrs banged a gavel. The four demigods hushed while Juniper tried to stifle her tears.

"As it is, Grover Underwood, we cannot pass this off as evidence to a lead," one of the Satyrs said, "But since you believe so strongly in it-"

"Petitioning five times to have a whole group of searchers to unite," interjected another with a disapproving snort, "A waste of resources."

"Regardless, seeing as _you_ find it to be so important we agreed on a decision," the first Satyr started again after glaring at the one who interrupted him, "We will give you one week to find Pan, and if you fail, you must sacrifice your Searcher's License."

Naruto's fists clenched and he glared at the three Satyrs. He knew damn well that his cousin was still alive, if only just, and that Grover had a strong connection to the God of the Wild. He wasn't sure how deep it was, but based on some of the conversations they used to have when using Sage Mode, Pan assured him it was a pretty deep connection. One that almost reminded him of something he had felt before, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"This meeting is adjourned," The Cloven Elders said as one before they left the glade. Naruto followed the others to Grover's side, his anger at the limit. Seriously, one more thing happens today and he might just explode.

"Oh Grover!" Juniper cried out as she hugged the shell-shocked satyr, "Grover, speak to me."

"I got this," Percy said with a hint of glee before he slapped the satyr upside the head. Grover yelped and glared at the innocent smile his friend gave him before he recalled what had caused him to go into shock.

Immediately he went into panic mode, "Oh Pan! How am I supposed to find Pan in a week when no one's found him in centuries!? I'm never going to find him! I might as well give up!"

"Percy, once more," Naruto sighed as he tried to not be too irritated at his friend. He had a very good reason to freak out after all, considering his dream was on the line.

"Gladly," chirped the son of Poseidon as he whacked his friend once more upside the head, snapping him from his negative thoughts. Annabeth slapped Percy on the arm and glared at him, making the boy wither under her glare, "What?! Naruto said I should!"

"Only because I might accidently smack his head off," grumbled the blond before he took a deep breath. Placing a hand on Grover's shoulder, Naruto smiled at one of his first friends in the real world, "You've got this, G. Whose the one that got Thalia-chan and Annie back to camp?"

"Me?" Grover asked. Naruto grinned and patted the relatively young satyr's shoulder.

"Right," the blond then opened his mouth to say something else when he froze. The five stared at him as his smile suddenly faded away and his face settled into a scowl. Due to their close proximity, Grover started to baa fearfully as the blond released a large wave of KI. Juniper had already bolted for the trees, and the three demigods were struggling with their own fight-or-flight instincts.

"...Ouranos!" swore the eldest demigod before he vanished in a flash of light. A few seconds after he vanished, a yawning Thalia walked into the clearing wearing black jeans and an AC/DC shirt.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized as she walked up to the group, "Chiron said it was an emergency and Whiskers never showed up for that wake-up call he promised me."

The daughter of Zeus' electric blue eyes blinked before she waved her hands in front of Grover's face and then turned to the three frozen demigods, "Hello? Guys?...Did I miss something?"

* * *

Naruto reappeared in the di Angelo siblings bedroom, just at the foot of Bianca's bed. His clone was kneeling at her side, cleaning away some dark green liquid that was coming out of the corner of her mouth, nose, ears and eyes. Appearing at his clone's side, the blond placed his hand over the groaning Bianca's.

Naruto frowned when he couldn't determine what was wrong, just as before. This was getting really bad. He might have to do more than just pray to his father for help...he might have to go to (insert slight shudder here) the Oracle of Delphi. Moving to the other side of the bed, Naruto placed a hand on Bianca's head, frowning when her forehead didn't burn him, but gave him a few chills.

Removing his hand didn't stop the chills, but now the room started to spin and the reincarnated God stumbled back before falling onto Nico's bed. His head collided with the wall behind Nico's bed and he grunted before passing out.

* * *

He awoke in a world of darkness before he heard a familiar throat-clearing sound. Turning around, the glowing form of Helios sat in a meditative position, his eyes shut. Slowly they opened to reveal two solid white orbs and the world around him returned to the bright white room he knew so well. Before Naruto could ask what was going on, Helios' mouth opened and the God spoke in a mixture of voices, both female and male.

_A life risked for the Ghost King's precious one,_

_The family reunites after the Roman attacks the Sun._

_Three take the Fire Steed neither West nor East,_

_The Pinwheel's Spiral Blade revives the Leaf's dreaded Beast._

_Rescue comes from the power of Lightning and Thunder,_

_The Shadow Slug defeats death with a gift of wonder._

_After the Guardian's past returns twice more,_

_Two brothers shall fall during the Labyrinth's War._

Helios' glowing eyes faded away back into their normal blue and sun filled orbs. He blinked several times before groaning, putting his hands to his head, "Ugh...My head is pounding worse than the time I drank Dionysius' mixed batch of wine..."

Blinking, he stared at his incarnation that was gaping at him, making the God run his hands over his face and ask frantically, "What? What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"N-No..." Naruto answered, making his past life look at him in confusion. Gaining a sense over himself, Naruto shook his head in disbelief before he continued, "Y-You just gave me a prophecy."

* * *

**AN: And so it begins again! What about the Labyrinth Quest? Or the search for Pan, for that matter? Don't worry, those are still going to occur, but Naruto has his own quest now! **

**Will we find out why Helios gave Naruto a prophecy instead of The Oracle of Delphi? Will Bianca survive whatever illness has struck her? Who will accompany Naruto on his quest? Will he even be allowed to go? Will I ever get my sleep schedule back to normal before Christmas?**

**To find out there's only one thing to do,**

**YOU MUST REVIEW!**


	2. II

**AN: I did it! I can sleep again!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**II**

* * *

Chiron stared at the blond demigod in befuddlement, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Just moments before, the one the minor Gods were calling Helios' Heir had stormed into the Big House, promptly scaring off Mr. D who split the moment he saw who had shoved the door open, and told him that he had to get to Camp Jupiter. The centaur was at a loss for words, completely surprised that the blond even _knew_ about the opposing camp. When he finally did get a coherent sentence, all the poor centaur could manage was, "Why on Earth would you have to go _there_?"

"I have a quest," Naruto answered promptly. He was irked that he still needed permission to leave. He was almost twenty-three mentally, anyway, but it was annoying to know that he had to tell _one_ of the Camp Directors he was leaving.

"I beg your pardon?" Chiron questioned as he jerked back, almost as if he were burned from the shock he was in, "Did you sneak into the Oracle's room?"

"No," replied the Guardian before he went to the door and shut it. Reaching into his back pocket, Naruto pulled out what looked like a notepad, tearing a piece of paper out and slapping it on the door's edge. Chiron watched, fascinated, as the paper once clean of ink became covered in intricate glowing blue runes that were beyond his abilities to decipher.

"What is that?" inquired the Camp Activities Director.

"A temporary privacy seal," Naruto answered as he went to the windows and applied the same paper to them. He then jumped up and walked to the center of the ceiling, placing another next to the light that hung from it. Dropping to the center of the floor, a final seal was placed and Naruto sighed in relief, "Good. Now there's no way anyone save for a God could manage to get this information."

"What information?" Chiron asked.

Naruto looked at the centaur with a serious gaze, one that belonged on a man nearly twice his age, before he spoke, "Helios' presence within me has made me into a sort of seer. Just a few minutes ago he had given me a prophecy and for the past five months, as long as Bianca has been sick, I've been having the same dream over and over again."

Having been informed of Helios' presence within the boy by Mr. D, who had been even more weary of the blond after he found out, and other minor Gods that stopped by for the latest update on said boy, Chiron's eyes widened, "I see...That could be very good for us. Now we could get two quests a year and infighting between cabins might go down during the Summer."

"No. Camp Half-Blood is supposed to have _one_ Oracle and _one_ quest per summer, unless something of importance happens like Auntie Arte being kidnapped or if there is a threat to the Camp, as was the case with Clarisse's quest," Naruto explained his disagreement, "And if the Crooked One finds out about this, I, as well as the di Angelos, will become high-profile targets."

"Hm, I suppose you're correct," Chiron said as he rubbed his beard in thought, "What was your prophecy?"

"_A life risked for the Ghost King's precious one, The family reunites after the Roman attacks the Sun. Three take the Fire Steed to neither West nor East, The Pinwheel's Spiral Blade revives the Leaf's dreaded Beast. Rescue comes from the power of Lightning and Thunder, The Shadow Slug defeats death with a gift of wonder. After the Guardian's past returns twice more, Two brothers shall fall during the Labyrinth's War,_" Naruto recited as his arms crossed in a subconscious way to defend himself. The references to his homeland were far too obvious for him to ignore, and he prayed to Order that the phrase Shadow Slug meant some sort of monster he had never heard of instead of the woman he knew could match the definition.

"'_A life risked for the Ghost King's precious one..._'" the centaur repeated quietly, pacing the room as he went over the prophecy in his head. He suddenly looked to Naruto and asked, "Do you require a group?"

"No, I'll most likely end up with a group of three after getting to Camp Jupiter," the blond said after a moment of thought.

"I don't like it," Chiron stated with a frown, "This prophecy...it's eight verses rather than six. It's rather straightforward in the beginning, but confusing in the later verses. Not to mention the second line...You'd be attacked and Bianca's life would be forfeited."

"My life is going to be at risk," Naruto pointed out, referring to the prophecy, "But not lost. Not until this Labyrinth War takes place. I just hope I can stop someone else's death. I may be unable to avoid my own Fate, but I'll be damned before I let someone die in front of me because I was told it would happen."

"Maybe we can avert both lives being lost," Chiron said hopefully before scratching his beard once more, "Do you require a mode of transportation?"

"And take that pile of trash you call a van? No thanks, I'll just get my car from Charlie," Naruto said with a wry grin as the centaur gave him a sour look for insulting the van. The blond knew very well how low budgeted the camp was and how they couldn't afford a more up-to-date van or any other car.

"If that is what you wish," Chiron said after a long moment, "Do you want me to inform Nico?"

"No, I'll tell him myself," Naruto said as he raised two fingers in a leaving salute, "Ja ne, Chiron. Just open the door if you want to cancel out the privacy seals."

He vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind an amused centaur. Chiron looked down at the seal on the floor and then to his office's door. He took a step towards the door before turning and going to his bookshelf, pulling an old copy of _The Odyssey_ out an old favorite of his. Removing the bookmark he had placed in the tome, Chiron grinned as he started to resume where he had left off on the forty-first page. Perhaps this way he could get more than a page read.

* * *

Naruto reappeared inside of Cabin Thirteen, just outside of the di Angelos' room. Knocking first, he then entered after a brief moment and went to the sick Bianca's side. Where his clone once stood, now stood his younger brother Will Solace. The boy was a gifted healer, one of the best, and was third in line for the Counselor's seat of Cabin Seven, which is why Naruto had pulled him out of his Greek class before going to see Chiron. Putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, Naruto asked, "Any change?"

Will shook his head, "She's still colder than ice, but she's stopped spewing out that green stuff. I got a small sample of her blood, but without any sort of lab I can't analyze it."

That was another thing unique about Will. With his mother being a bombshell of a doctor, even Naruto had to admit that when he laid eyes on his brother's mother last winter, Will had grown up wanting to be just like her and his views on purely demigod healing techniques were skewed. He acknowledged that humanity had made leaps and bounds when it came to medicine, and that where myth or history may be unable to give you an answer, human ingenuity might be able to provide some clear answers.

Taking the vial from his brother, Naruto furrowed his brows while looking at the black and red liquid. Normally demigod blood had the same consistency and color of human blood, and anything different wasn't normal. His own blood had gained flakes of gold thanks to his unique abilities. He discovered that during a spar with Mark Andrews, where the son of Ares managed to knock a tooth out from a bash with his shield. The tooth was reattached easily (Apollo's children couldn't not have dazzling smiles after all), but the blood that had flown out along with it had surprised him.

"Could you keep an eye on her for me?" Naruto asked, making Will look up at him in confusion, "I have a quest and I think it involves finding a cure for her."

Will opened his mouth to ask about the quest, only for Naruto to interrupt him, "I can't tell you about it. It's not an official quest."

Will's eyes widened and he nodded in understanding. Naruto nodded back to him before he walked around Bianca's bed and knelt next to it. Placing a hand on her forehead, Naruto brushed away the girl's bangs and smiled before he spoke softly to the unconscious girl, "Hang in there, Be-chan...I'll fix it."

Standing, Naruto nodded to his brother once more, "I'll leave her in your care, Will Solace."

A very small green helmet appeared above Will's head, making the boy gasp as Naruto blinked in surprise before he added, "And so does Lord Hades it appears...Take care of her, Will."

The shaken demigod nodded, unable to trust his voice as he realized what this meant. Not only was his brother asking him to watch over his charge in his stead, but Hades himself was giving him the blessing to enter and leave the cabin as he pleased. After his elder brother vanished in a flash of golden light, Will only hoped this was a temporary job, because he saw how hyper Nico could get last winter and to be honest, this cabin gave him the creeps. Next to him Ranger released a deep meow and the demigod patted the cat on the head in an effort to reassure him that he was fine...kind of.

* * *

Nico frowned as he looked up at Naruto. He had managed to catch Nico just before he entered the Greek class. Giving Annabeth an apologetic smile, he pulled the younger demigod aside and explained to him that he had been given a top secret quest, like the one Clarisse had gone on. In a voice that held a tint of depression within it, Nico asked, "You have to leave again?"

"Sadly, yes," Naruto sighed out. Nico seemed understanding at least, but also disappointed. In an effort to reassure the boy, he reached out and ruffled Nico's hair with a grin on his face, "But it's gonna help us make Bianca better."

"Stop it!" mock complained Nico as he swatted the older blond's hand away. To be honest, he liked the brotherly affection Naruto gave him, but in case someone was around he had to act embarrassed. That and whenever he did it, Nico felt his stomach dance for some reason. It happened around Percy sometimes, too, which added to the confusion Nico felt.

"Alright, alright," chuckled out the older blond, breaking his charge from his musing on the strange feelings he sometimes got. Naruto smiled down at Nico, "My brother Will is going to be taking care of Bianca while I'm gone, so don't slack off. I'll be back before you know it with a cure."

"Promise?" asked the young Son of Hades. Nico wasn't sure of whether he meant that Naruto would return quickly or if a cure would be found.

"Promise of a lifetime," Naruto assured his charge with another tussle of the boy's hair. The younger demigod once more swatted his now laughing Guardian's hand away. Naruto jerked his head in the direction of the Greek class once he had quieted down and Nico groaned, trudging into the room and greeting Annabeth before taking his seat. Naruto looked into the classroom, watched as Nico easily caught up with the others, before sending a wink to his annoyed 'little sister' and vanishing in a flash of golden light.

* * *

Naruto reappeared well away from the location of Annabeth's class, reappearing a few feet from his charges' cabin. The person found waiting for him with her arms crossed and a glare settled on her face made him stop where he was. He admitted that her fitted black attire and adorably mad glare had distracted from the fact as to why she could be mad at him. Sheepishly laughing and scratching the back of his neck, Naruto greeted his girlfriend, "Hey Thalia-chan."

"Don't give me that," Thalia retorted as she stomped over to her taller boyfriend, "What got you so angry that you had managed to freeze Grover, Percy, Annie and _Clarisse_ in place? All I got was a few bleats out of Grover before he muttered something about Pan and ran off. Why didn't you wake me up, either?"

"Oh yeah, and then there's _that_," Naruto grumbled, his mood falling back into its original irritation as he remembered the order given to the Satyr by his superiors. Shaking the feeling off, Naruto apologetically smiled down at Thalia before giving her a hug, "Sorry about missing the morning cuddling - ow!"

Thalia retracted her foot from where it had stomped down on Naruto's, glaring at him with a tint of pink on her cheeks, "Don't say it out loud!"

Grabbing at his now throbbing toes, Naruto expertly balanced on his other foot while forcing chakra through his hands into them and sent a mock glare of his own to his volatile girlfriend, "I swear if I didn't know better you could be Ares' daughter! You're the one that suggested it!"

"Yeah, well I have a reputation to protect," Thalia grumbled, crossing her arms and stepping away, her pink tinted cheeks not fading in the slightest.

Lowering his now recovered foot, Naruto answered her first question in an effort to get off the topic she was getting embarrassed over, "As to why I freaked out the others, which I didn't know about until now, I got some bad news about Bianca's illness."

Thalia looked at the blond out of the side of her eyes, giving him a bit of an apologetic glance. She accepted that he occasionally put his duty as a Guardian above their relationship (though it could be deemed a rare instance as it hardly occurred), but it was part of the reason he had her heart. The fact that it was because one of his charges had the most bizarre illness she'd ever heard of made it an easier pill to swallow. It just showed why he was an a great choice for a Guardian; Naruto Uzumaki was one of the most caring people she'd ever met and that's why she loved him.

"Is she alright?" Thalia asked out of concern for her boyfriend's sake and because a part of her did care about her cousin.

"She's stable, at least for now," Naruto started to reply before looking around and taking hold of Thalia's arm, "Hang on, we can't talk about this here."

Before she could ask him why, Naruto had pulled her close and they had once more vanished in a flash of light. They reappeared next to the pile of rocks named after her father's fist, though she felt it was more along the lines of being deer droppings. Not that Thalia would ever say it. Perhaps Naruto would though.

"Alright, no one ever hangs out at Rai-Jiji's Pile of Rocks," Naruto said with a nod, ignoring the warning rumble of thunder that occurred above him. Thalia fought down a smirk; Naruto's disrespect always got her to smile and that usually put her in the same state it put him. Her boyfriend's unique eyes met hers once more and he continued where he left off, "I have a quest to find a cure for her. Only four people know about it aside from me: Chiron, Nico, my brother Will and now you."

"I'm going with you," Thalia immediately replied. She could care less who knew about this quest and who didn't. Naruto had told her of his deal with Hades and how his soul would be lost for eternity should he ever die on a quest. As long as she could stop it, Thalia had sworn to herself that she would, even if that meant going on every quest with him just to make sure he didn't die on her.

Naruto groaned and took hold of his girlfriend's shoulders, "Dammit, Thalia-chan you can't go! My group will form when I get to...It'll form later."

"'Your group will form later', huh?" Thalia repeated with narrowed eyes as she pushed his hands off and poked him roughly in the chest, "Just _where_ is this quest taking you?"

_Damn! Zeus' little girl is scary!_ Helios commented with an audible shiver, to which Naruto silently agreed with. When she wanted to, Thalia could give him a glare that would fill him with fear that his Baachan had once filled him with. And yet, it was part of her charm, he couldn't help but love her more for it.

"I _can't_ tell you where it's taking me, because you _aren't_ going," Naruto sternly replied. This was one argument that Thalia was _not_ going to win. Granted that their normal arguments consisted of spars and how having a 'God Mode' made him something other than a Demigod. Thalia seemed to like the idea of being in a relationship with a Reincarnated God more than that for some reason, probably because of her so called lust for power that Kyu said she had.

"I. Am. Going," Thalia rebutted, emphasizing her point by jabbing him in the chest with each word.

"The Hell you are," Naruto said as he grabbed her hand firmly and his eyes started to glow lightly, "I'll be meeting the other members of my group later."

"And so will I," Thalia said as her eyes started to crackle with electricity as her frustration grew.

In all honesty, if anyone who had been in the same room as Zeus and Apollo when they argued were to watch the two now, they would admit that both of their stubbornness was equal to that of their fathers'. Prior to the recovery of Naruto from the Hidden Lands, Zeus would often demand answers as to why Apollo would slack off when he was supposed to be steering the Sun. The younger God, whose strength was only just weaker than his father's, would often argue that he had everything under control and that Zeus should worry about his own domain. Zeus would retort that he was worrying about his own domain, as the Sun was seen in the Sky. The argument would continue until either Artemis or Hera stepped in, both of whom were the only two that wouldn't be struck by lightning or fire if they interrupted.

Their staring continued and above them, dark clouds started to swirl while portions of the sunlight broke through. Thalia's now sparking eyes narrowed and Naruto's own shining ones mimicked the action. Then, out of nowhere, Naruto's dream flashed across the front of his mind, consequently breaking some of his focus on the staring contest and breaking his connection with the Sun, thus allowing Thalia's darkening clouds to cover the area.

_You don't think that happens on my quest do you?_ Naruto inquired to his past life. Helios hummed.

_It's possible,_ the Faded God replied, _I mean, how many dark corridors do you recall seeing in Camp Half-Blood? As much as I loathe to admit it, you're going to have to go to Camp Ju...Ju...That Other Camp._

Naruto mentally sighed before breaking the staring contest with his girlfriend, shifting his gaze to the ground with a scowl on his face, "Fine. You can go."

Thalia, hearing the victorious words leave her boyfriend's lips, immediately lost the sparking in her eyes and the clouds slowly parted. Crossing her arms over her chest and smirking, the daughter of Zeus asked, "Was that so hard to say?"

"You have no idea," the Heir of Helios mumbled as he looked at her, his hands jamming themselves into his pockets. With a sigh, he looked up at the once again cleared sky before he spoke, "C'mon, let's go pack and get my car back from Uncle Heph's Cabin."

Smirking and looking at his girlfriend with a petty form of revenge in mind, he asked teasingly, "Unless you'd like to fly there...?"

As far as Naruto was concerned, the punch in the arm was well worth the look of terror that crossed his girlfriend's face.

* * *

"Well here it is," said the tall African-American Counselor for Cabin Nine as he led the couple into the garage that had been added onto the cabin for the sake of working on vehicles, the joint Aphrodite and Hephaestus Smilodon, Emery, curled up under a workbench littered with tools. Naruto's unique eyes started to sparkle as he looked at his car, walking past Charles Beckendorf to the driver's seat. The handle looked to be made of actual chrome, rather than the false chrome that it had come with, and opening the door was slightly harder because of its weight.

"We stripped it down and replaced the frame with a hollow Stygian Iron that took _days_ to create, not to mention modifying the engine and gears to allow the car to retain its speed," Charles continued as he and Thalia watched Naruto slip into the dark leather seats and run his hands over the steering wheel's edge. Said wheel now had a Greek Sun over the car horn, rather than the Dodge ram shield that once marked it. If he bothered to look, Naruto would've seen the same Sun on the front grill and that the license plate read BRN RUB3R.

Shutting the door and looking in from the window, Charles pointed out several new buttons along the wheel's edge to Naruto, "This one here drops a small amount of oil from a spare container, in case you ever need to give someone the slip."

"Nice: both the pun and the add on," Naruto complimented, "And this one?"

"Car spikes," the son of Hephaestus answered before crying out in alarm when Thalia, who had slipped into the passenger's side while the two were talking, tried to press the red button she had found when she flipped open a portion of the stick shift, "DON'T PRESS THAT!"

As though she were burned, Thalia retracted her hand, making Charles sigh in relief before he explained himself, "That happens to activate the S.O.L. Engine's light speed."

"...You named my engine S.O.L.?" Naruto asked in disbelief before he made a double take with wide eyes, "Wait, light speed?!"

"Well yeah, it's theoretical and we haven't gotten around to testing it," Charles shrugged, "But you are a Son of Apollo and Helios' Heir, so why not put it in this? As to why we call it S.O.L. it doesn't stand for Shit Outta Luck, but rather Solar Oriented Logistic Engine. Or as some of my more humorous brothers call it, Speed Of Light Engine."

_Ha! Well if it works, theoretically, you'd be going at the same speed as I used to with Zephyr and Zephyr's brethren_, Helios idly commented. Before adding, _That is, as long as you don't get burnt to a crisp from the excess heat_.

"That's reassuring," Naruto mumbled to himself before nodding to Charles, "Thanks, Charlie. I'll be sure to bring it back so that you and your cabin can continue to tinker with it."

"Oh, we've already started on another project, but thanks," Charles said. After the garage door opened, Naruto and Thalia were buckled in, their packs tossed in the back seat and Naruto's car roared to life. The tires squealed loudly, stopping all action in camp as everyone covered their ears, before Naruto put the car in gear and it peeled out of the Cabin's garage. Charles watched the two speed away and scratched his head with a frown, "Aw man...I forgot to ask why he wanted to take it."

* * *

**AN: And so begins the Quest for The Cure. Will Naruto ever have to use the S.O.L. Engine? Does Annabeth shake down answers from Chiron about Naruto's whereabouts? Can Will handle being in charge of Cabin Thirteen? Will I survive the hour-long torture I'm being forced into tonight?**

**To find out there's only one thing to do,**

**YOU MUST REVIEW!**


	3. III

**AN: I survived the ultimate terror...A family night sing-along! The horror...**

**AN 2: There probably aren't going to be any lemons in this story. Maybe in the final part of the trilogy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**III**

* * *

A black suburban vehicle was speeding along the highway in the middle of Nevada, passing an accident in the far right lane. Driving the massive SUV was a handsome man of Cherokee descent, a dimpled chin, and cropped black hair. His equally dark eyes twinkled but showed sadness, and when questioned on it, he would always claim was caused by the pain carried throughout the generations of the Cherokee people. This was Tristan McLean, star of last summer's hit _King of Sparta_, and right now he was frustrated.

"Pipes, can you just tell me why?" he asked the girl seated next to him with her chin planted on her hand as she stared out the window. His 13-year-old daughter was dressed just like the tomboy she always was, her kaleidoscope-like eyes were most likely flickering from every car to the next they passed. Glancing quickly at his daughter, Tristan asked again, "Why did you take that pack of gum?"

"I dunno, Daddy, I thought you paid for it so I put it in my pocket," his daughter replied sincerely, making him shake his head at her impulsive action. He merged into the left lane safely behind a semi truck with a large K and a sickle logo on the back. Piper looked over at him before crossing her arms and looking forward at the semi.

"Next time would you check with me before you go and put something in your pocket?" he asked before looking at his daughter once again, "For goodness sake, Piper you could've gotten in a lot of trou-"

"DADDY WATCH OUT!" Piper screamed, making him look forward as a body fell towards him. Seconds before impact, he reached over and threw his right arm across Piper as a secondary safety-belt, knocking the volume on his radio and making some rock music blast to life as the body of a tall blond teenager bounced off of the hood of his car to the side of the road. Tristan's foot slammed on the brake pedal as the truck in front of them did the same, leaving just enough room between them so a person could lie down.

The airbags deployed, but thankfully did nothing more than at most bruise his chest and arm. Piper had shielded her own face with her arms, both of which were also likely bruised. As the airbags deflated, Tristan looked to his daughter, grabbing her shoulders and checking her for injuries.

"Daddy! DAD! What about the guy you just hit?!" Piper asked before they both turned and saw a man jump from the top of the semi to the road. He was wearing chest armor that Tristan had only seen when he was filming _King of Sparta_, combat pants, boots and had a scarred left eye. The Scarred Man glared into their car before walking around them. Tristan looked into his rearview mirror to see him going to the person that had hit his SUV. The person he picked up looked to be about eighteen and was wearing a torn orange shirt. The left side of his face was bleeding heavily while the right had three scratches on his cheek. His arms were scraped badly, most likely from hitting the road, and his legs were most likely broken, if not shattered.

Though the next thing Tristan saw utterly surprised him: The teen lifted both of his battered arms to grab the Scarred Man's shoulder and pulled his head back, driving it forward into the Scarred Man's nose. The Scarred Man stumbled back before he was given a drop kick to push him over the barrier into the opposite lane. Just as the Scarred Man got up, a semi heading in the opposite direction ran him down, causing Tristan to pull the confused Piper into a hug as he tried to forget the horrific sight he just saw.

The driver's door of the semi's cab opened and the Scarred Man's twin stepped out, a handgun raised and shooting at the Teen, causing Piper to scream and Tristan to pull her down with him below the windows to avoid being shot. He didn't know who was out there listening to him, but he prayed to whatever Gods would listen, if they existed that is, that whatever was going on he and Piper would come out of alive.

* * *

A few moments earlier, Naruto Uzumaki was drumming his hands on the steering wheel, being careful not to hit the emergency weapons that Hephaestus' Cabin had installed, to the rock station he and Thalia had agreed on. They've made great headway, getting from Camp Half-Blood to Omaha, Nevada the day before. They'd been driving for nearly two hours already and were nearly outside of Utah. With the Mist on his side, Hecate had been extremely helpful as of late for some reason, he was free to speed along the road at 120 miles per hour without drawing attention from the highway patrol. Not to mention continue to give his girlfriend heart attacks when it looked like he was about to plow through the car in front of him before merging to one of the empty lanes; just like he did a second ago.

"Whiskers!" Thalia cried out in annoyance before thumping him on the arm, "Stop doing that, dammit!"

"Ah, but Thalia-chan, it's your fault for falling for it five times in a row," said the Guardian with a smirk before flying through the lanes and going around the toll booths, "And there goes Utah."

"Just where the Hell are we going anyway, Whiskers?" Thalia asked, annoyed at his lack of answers during the course of this trip. She had asked him when they first left Camp, but he had said that he needed to focus on driving. After they pulled into a pit stop, where they miraculously were not attacked, and she asked again, he dodged her question by saying he needed to sleep. Her patience was _really_ wearing thin and he'd better answer her soon or she might just kill him. Hey, dying on a quest is one thing, dying by her hand is something entirely different.

"That's for me to know and for you to go insane over, Thalia-chan," Naruto teased before furrowing his brow as a small car suddenly cut him off. He slowed down with a hard break and glared at the car that mimicked him, while Thalia threw her arms to the dashboard in order to avoid colliding with it.

"What the heck, Whiskers, why don't you just...go...Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me," the daughter of Zeus said in disbelief as she saw what he was glaring at. Sitting in the driver's seat and peering out the window was one of the original skeletons that had chased them the winter before, and climbing out of the passenger window was another with a machine gun in hand.

"You know what I really hate?" Naruto asked his girlfriend as the Skeleton cocked his weapon and took aim, "I _really_ hate undead people."

Naruto slammed on the brakes just as the skeleton started to fire his weapon at them. The bullets managed to scratch the hood of his car, making Naruto grunt in annoyance, before they started to strike in front of the car as the driver hit the brakes once more to stay near him. Naruto's foot moved to the accelerator and he peeled around the skeletons' Audi A8 (which he thought was too nice a car for them), speeding past a black SUV on his right that was entering the highway before going into the center lane once more.

"So... They're still around by the way," idly commented the blond demigod before ducking as the rear window was shattered by bullets, "Gods above!"

"Son of a bitch!" Thalia exclaimed as she released her replica of Athena's shield Aegis from its concealed state, holding it up behind them.

"Smart thinking, Thalia-chan," complimented her boyfriend, shifting his bracelet to his right wrist, "Roar for me!"

In a flash of red that should've blinded him had he been a normal human, Naruto's Arcadia shield replica appeared. He pulled it off of his wrist quickly before handing it to Thalia, "You deflect and I'll drive."

"I knew it was too easy," Thalia groaned as she held her boyfriend's shield along with her own.

**"Well, well, well...if it ain't the boneheads,"** Kyu commented dryly as he started to deflect bullets, **"And they've gotten better at aiming...fantastic."**

"Less commentary, fuzz face!" Naruto grumbled as he merged once more to the far left lane. Looking in the side mirror at the sound of a loud horn, Naruto groaned in disbelief, "You have _got_ to be fucking kidding me!"

Another two skeletons were behind him driving an eighteen-wheeler that was gaining speed on them. Naruto pushed down on the accelerator, but the damned black car full of skeletons was back in front of them, with the undead attacker still standing on the top. A third car, another black Audi A8, came to the side and with the barrier on the left, Naruto found himself pinned.

_You want my help on this?_ Helios asked.

_That'd be nice,_ Naruto replied before grabbing Thalia's shoulder with his free hand and pushing her down below the window as the driving skeleton on their right started to fire at them with a handgun. Naruto leaned back and Thalia stayed down until the gunshots stopped, one nearly grazing Naruto's throat.

_Yes, help would be much appreciated!_ Naruto mentally screamed to his past life.

_Have Thalia shove the wannabe Aegis into her window,_ Helios suggested. Naruto looked at Thalia and repeated his inner God's advice. The daughter of Zeus did just that, and when the Skeleton turned to take aim once again was surprised and startled to the point that it swerved away, fleeing the sight of the horrid Medusa.

"Jam it into the window," Naruto instructed before grabbing the once discarded Arcadia shield and jamming it in front of Thalia. He set the car on cruise control and reached into his pocket to pull his seal notebook out. The idea for his notebook came to him a few months back after looking back on the Quest for Artemis and wondering how differently it could have gone had he have instant access to some of his things instead of just carrying scrolls around in his seal-covered jacket...which was put away in Thalia's duffle bag with his kunai due to his own cockiness.

_Apollo's genes shine through once more,_ Helios joked as Naruto berated himself for not thinking about the possibilities of running into trouble.

"Shut up, Helios," Naruto grumbled aloud as he tore out a weight seal. Carefully, he reached down and applied the slip of paper between his foot and the pedal. A flare of chakra to memorize the amount of weight he was applying to the pedal and voilà! Naruto Uzumaki (Namikaze) was the first shinobi/demigod/mortal to ever invent an autopilot for a four-wheeled vehicle. He should probably take notes for the Hephaestus kids, but since there were more pressing matters – Skeletons trying to kill him and his girlfriend – he'd hopefully remember later.

"Stay put and don't move!" Naruto ordered his girlfriend before he opened his door and climbed out onto the rooftop.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI! YOU GODS DAMNED LUNATIC! GET BACK IN HERE!" Thalia screamed after her boyfriend, looking at the empty driver's seat with horror. Naruto kicked the door shut and slid onto the hood of his car as the Skeleton reloaded. Praying to his Dad for a little help in landing, Naruto leapt from the hood of the Challenger onto the black Audi A8 the Skeletons were using.

The armed Skeleton obvious did not expect the blond to do this, but raised his gun anyway. After Naruto briefly berated himself for leaving his quiver and bow in the back seat of the Challenger, the Guardian slipped his hands around the barrel of the machine gun, pointing it up and, with a move Mark had shown him, Spartan kicked the Skeleton in the chest. The undead assassin let out a hiss as it, unlike the blond shinobi, did not have any way to adhere itself onto the Audi and thus was sent soaring in front of the car. It hit the pavement and splattered apart into multiple pieces.

Naruto next went after the driver of the Audi, sliding down onto the front hood and sticking to it with chakra. Bringing his fist back, Naruto drove it into the windshield and cracked the laminated glass. The Skeleton immediately raised a handgun and shot at him, shattering the windshield. Naruto avoided the bullets and glass by rolling to his side. Then, he reached into the hole created by the driver and grabbed the gun that was immediately pointed at him, struggling with the Skeleton, who was too strong for its own good, that wielded it. The struggle caused the car to merge unannounced into the next lane, earning both the unintentional rider and the driver many a pissed off horn. Finally, Naruto won out by slamming the Skeleton's hand into the dash, breaking off fingers and causing the gun to fall into the passenger's seat.

Grabbing the skull of his undead foe, Naruto snarled at it before pulling back. The skull popped off after a moment of struggle. Holding the skull like one would in Hamlet, Naruto said, "To be, or not to be?...Yeah, fuck it."

He stood up and turned around, chucking the chomping skull trying to bite him onto an upcoming overpass. The car he was one started to wobble mid-lane and veer to the right, making Naruto gain a look of concern.

_Should've thought that through,_ Helios commented before asking, _Why aren't you going god mode again?_

"Are you kidding me? I have no idea what the Mist will disguise me as! I don't want to cause a pile-up," Naruto said, quieting for a moment before adding, "Again."

_You make a valid point,_ Helios agreed before laughing, _For all we know, the mortals would probably see that giant robot covered in flames that was in that film you watched with Hades' children last week!_

Naruto snickered at the thought as being seen as Optimus Prime before he used **Hirashin** to reappear at Thalia's side in the driver's seat. Thalia jumped in her seat before punching him in the arm roughly, "You fucking asshole! Do you know how badly you scared me?!"

"Ow! Thalia-chan, that hurt!" the blond demigod complained as he rubbed his definitely bruised arm. A round of bullets took out his rearview mirror and Naruto turned to look behind him with a scowl, "Oh right...there were two cars and a Peterbilt."

Naruto smiled apologetically at Thalia and opened his door once again. Well, he started to before turning around and grabbing his quiver and bow. Holding both in one hand, he nodded to his shield before speaking, "Put Kyu in the backseat window."

**"I **_**demand**_** compensation for this!"** growled the shield's spirit in annoyance, **"Do you know how hard it is to pump enough chakra through this form and remove dents?"**

"I'll replenish your pools when this is all over," Naruto promised before opening his car door. Thalia grabbed his shoulder and stopped him from moving.

"Oh no you don't, not again!" the punk demigoddess snapped, "You're crazy, Whiskers! Batshit crazy! We can just outrun them!"

"Thalia, would you rather be run off the road by the truck and possibly die, or would you rather I take care of the Skeletons now so we can get to where we need to go without issue?" Naruto inquired. Thalia ground her teeth and narrowed her electric blue eyes.

"You're telling me _everything_ about this quest after this. Do you understand me?" she asked sternly, getting a nod from her boyfriend before releasing his shoulder. He pulled her into a kiss that she wanted to kill him for breaking before climbing out of the car once again. Thalia's stern glare turned into a worried look as she grabbed the Arcadia shield and moved it to the rear window.

"**Kit's gonna be fine,"** Kyu reassured her, **"Sure he's an idiot, but he's a damn good fighter. Ow! Alright, one more bullet hits me and I'm going to flip out!"**

* * *

Naruto leapt onto the hood of the eighteen-wheeler's cab, preparing his bow and a trick arrow. The passenger Skeleton raised his machine gun and shot at the blond, making him jump up to the top of the cab. The driving Skeleton pulled his handgun out and shot up into the roof. This caused Naruto to backflip onto the trailer and allowed the passenger Skeleton to climb out onto the top of the Peterbilt cab without hindrance. It followed Naruto onto the trailer, turning to the side as Naruto shot one of his drill-bit arrows at him.

"Dammit, they're still good at avoiding my arrows," Naruto mumbled to himself. He growled as he came to another conclusion, "And I can't use the **Solar Flare** because again, I don't know how that will affect the humans!"

_Ah, woe is the teen fighting atop a truck,_ sighed his past life.

"And you're not helping either!" Naruto growled as he ducked under the rain of bullets that were fired at him. Pulling another arrow out, he rolled to the right as the Skeleton shot where he was. Knocking the arrow, the son of Apollo let it fly with a grin on his face as the head started to beep. The arrowhead flew straight into the barrel as the Skeleton took aim once more. Hearing the beeping, the Skeleton tossed its weapon aside, where it fell between the crevasse of the two guardrails. The small muffled boom made Naruto laugh, "Ha, faked you out! Smoke bomb arrow for the win!"

The Skeleton's empty eye sockets narrowed and a deep hiss left its mouth before it pulled out a combat knife about the size of Naruto's forearm. Naruto gulped as he took in the size of the knife before he muttered, "So now I'm fighting Rambo apparently."

'Rambo' hissed lowly again before charging forward and taking a swipe at Naruto. Naruto leaned back from the attack and reached for an arrow, only to find that nothing was there. Looking down at himself, the blond groaned as he found a large tear across his shirt where the strap of his quiver once rested over. Looking behind him, Naruto's shoulders slumped as the quiver rolled off the trailer, the arrows falling out all over the highway.

_Okay, __**that**__ has to be Nemesis' fault, _Helios chimed in with an audible frown, _She must be taking me into account now that you've been practicing with my abilities._

"Great. And since I can't use those abilities the odds are against me...Well, there's always ninjutsu," Naruto said only to go on the defensive as Rambo slashed at him before he could attempt said techniques, "You've gotta be friggin kidding me!"

Naruto raised his bow and deflected the knife from striking at him once more. He then spun it around and took a swing at Rambo's femur. The Skeleton blocked with his knife and brought his right hand out to punch Naruto in the side of his face with a hook. Naruto went with the momentum, almost dancing on the back of the trailer until he was closer to the edge. Spitting some of his unique golden-red blood to the side, Naruto collapsed his bow and attached it to his belt. He settled into a stance for Gama-Ken and offered a hand up.

"Well then bring it on, Rambo," Naruto grumbled as he stopped the Skeleton's blade wielding hand with his arm. Rambo tried to blindside him with another hook punch, but Naruto was ready, using his other hand to catch the fist. He grinned at his foe and asked, "What now?"

The kick in the gut should've been seen coming, really it should have, but Naruto had let his victory over Atlas get to his head and he slacked off over the past few months; focusing on caring for his charges took more priority anyway. So as he stumbled back, Naruto cursed himself for feeling so damn cocky these past few months and thanked the Gods for the wake up call. He momentarily disabled his chakra at the soles of his feet to slide back away from the overhead stab in the back Rambo had attempted while he was doubled over.

Unfortunately, this had the adverse effect of having him slide to the edge of the trailer. Righting himself just as he started to teeter behind the truck, Naruto was once more on the defensive as Rambo unleashed a surprisingly powerful amount of combos. What really got him though was the slash that had managed to cut him above his left eyebrow. He spun as some of his skin was torn between leaving with the blade or staying on his head, leaving his back wide open for the follow through kidney punch that sent him falling to the hood of the black SUV driving behind the truck.

His last thought before hitting the hood of the SUV was: _Gods I hope Annie and Water Boy are having a better time than I am right now._

* * *

As Naruto fell towards the hood of the McLean's SUV; in Camp Half-Blood, Percy was cursing his luck as he and Annabeth fought off _three_ giant golden scorpions. Apparently it was supposed to be Naruto's turn to decide on a War Game, but since he and Thalia left on some super important and secret quest, that left the Game up to Quintus. The jerk decided to pair up campers in two and hunt down giant scorpions, or something along those lines. Percy didn't really understand the significance He rolled out of the way of a stinger striking him and when he stood he used Riptide to deflect another stinger.

"Quintus is _so_ dead after this," Percy informed his partner, who was ducking a scorpion's claws and deflecting a stinger with her dagger.

"Get in line!" Annabeth retorted with a frown, "This is nuts! Is it because of who your dad is?"

"You always blame everything on me," Percy complained as he deflected another stinger, "Maybe it's your Mom's fault!"

"Why would it be my mom's fault?" Annabeth asked as she deflected a claw with her dagger, "For that matter, why are we still arguing about this? We have to find a place to hide!"

"About time you came up with something smart, Wise Girl," the son of Poseidon said with a grin as the blonde daughter of Athena stumbled and nearly got hit by a stinger if she hadn't rolled out of the way.

"Stop calling me that, Seaweed Brain!" the flustered girl growled before looking around. Her grey eyes widened when they landed on Zeus' Fist. Avoiding another claw, she grabbed onto Percy's arm and pulled him with her, both of them ducking under a swung stinger.

Percy looked nervous as they approached the slight hole between two boulders, "This is going to be a tight fit..."

"Just shut up and come on," Annabeth instructed with a frown before squeezing herself into the hole. Percy quickly shuffled in after her, wincing when a scorpion's claw grazed his back where Atlas' spear had. The two moved further into their safe hole when a scorpion got smart and tried to shove its claw in after them.

After a few minutes of trying and failing to get the two teens huddled close together, the scorpions hissed and skittered off. Annabeth and Percy shared a sigh of relief before a rock fell near Annabeth, prompting her to turn her head and gasp as she saw a light. Nudging her partner, Annabeth said, "Percy...look at this."

* * *

**AN: And so begins The Battle for the Labyrinth. Naruto and Thalia have not only their old friends the Skeletons to worry about but also Nemesis seems to be out for our blond hero. Will this hinder their quest later on? Will Annabeth and Percy have the same adventure they did as Rick told us? Will Naruto get Tristan McLean's autograph? Will Thalia? Will Piper McLean be joining them on their quest? And for the love of Aphrodite, will I ever learn how to make a grilled cheese sandwich?**

**To find out there's only one thing to do,**

**YOU MUST REVIEW!**


	4. IV

**AN: ...I have been defeated by the grilled cheese.**

**AN 2: and yes, Morpheus V. Upgraded Agent in The Matrix: Reloaded inspired that scene in the previous chapter**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**IV**

* * *

"Can you tell me how this is my fault again?" Percy asked in annoyance as he and Annabeth examined the abandoned ruins that they had fallen into. The blonde girl turned and fixed him with a glare, putting her hands on her hips as she did so.

"You pushed me down here, Seaweed Brain!" Athena's daughter accused, "And instead of doing what a sane person would do and going to get help, you fell down after me!"

"Hey, you're the one that told me to look over your shoulder. What else was I supposed to do? Use mirrors?" defended the son of Poseidon before he looked up at the hole he fell in, "Maybe we could climb back up."

"Wouldn't you like to know what this place is first?" Annabeth asked as she turned back to the wall and ran her hand over the stone.

Percy scratched the back of his head while answering, "Not really, no. I'd rather be back at the Cabins talking to Tyson."

"You did that yesterday, didn't you?" Annabeth asked, still running her fingers over the stone before finding an engraving, "What the...Gods above!"

_Geez, and she said Thalia spent too much time around Naruto?_ Percy silently joked as he turned and looked at what she found. Carved into the stone was a thick triangle, one that he recognized as the Greek symbol of Delta...Okay, one that he was _forced_ to recognize after the Quest for Artemis by Naruto. Percy shuddered as he tried to repress the thought of _studying_ with Naruto. The blond demigod had made good work on teaching Percy everything he should've already had memorized by now, and had joked that if Percy ever had an important test, Naruto would always be willing to help.

Percy made sure _never_ to tell his mother about Naruto's 'miracle' teaching method.

"Do you know what this is?" Annabeth asked him. The raven-haired son of Poseidon looked at her with a face that said 'Duh'.

"The symbol for Delta," he replied easily. The grey-eyed blonde gave him a look of surprise that he wasn't sure if he should've been insulted by or not.

"Well, it's that, but more importantly it's the symbol for Daedalus," explained Annabeth as her eyes glistened in excitement, "Percy...We're inside of the Labyrinth!"

"...The Labyrinth?" Percy repeated after a moment of thought, "You mean that place that Minos had built for the Mino-er, Pasiphae's Son?"

"...Who are you and what have you done with Percy?" Annabeth asked with false accusation as a smile threatened to break through her joking façade. Percy crossed his arms and frowned at his friend.

"I'll have _you_ know Annabeth Chase, that I do have a brain," retorted the raven-haired teen. Annabeth snorted and stifled a giggle, making Percy scowl at her. He turned and went back to the hole, glaring up at it while mumbling to himself about not being stupid and friends that took jokes too far sometimes.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and went back to running her hands over the stone, "Oh, come on, Percy. You know I'm just kidding."

"You've been hanging out with Thalia too much," Percy grumbled as he started to check the wall for loose stones, "Maybe if we pry one loose-"

The path they were in suddenly shook, causing the two teens to stumble backwards into each other. With a grunt, Percy pushed himself back to his feet before offering Annabeth a hand up. The daughter of Athena immediately went to the wall and pressed her ear against it, ignoring her friend as he caught sight of something beyond her.

"This...This is amazing," she quietly exclaimed. Turning to Percy, she waived him over, "Percy, you have to come listen to this! It sounds like something is moving the stones!"

"Uhh, Annabeth, something isn't moving the stones," Percy said, pointing at the still shifting walls in front of them, "The _stones_ are moving themselves!"

"That's...That's amazing!" Annabeth exclaimed, her urge to examine the once lost maze rising to new levels.

"Sure it is," Percy said with a small smile, amused at her excitement, before grabbing the excited girl's shoulder, "C'mon! We have to go and tell Chiron about this!"

"Ah, but...I suppose you're right," the slightly disappointed girl sighed out. She turned her head to the hole, "Did you hear that?"

Percy strained his ears before recalling something Naruto had taught him, Thalia and the di Angelos (the big three's kids trained well together, who knew?). Taking a deep breath and going to his center, Percy muted out the world around him. Naruto had taught the four children of the Big Three how to find their centers in case they felt like they were going to lose control of their abilities. While Percy didn't know what Nico or Bianca's abilities were, he knew that if either he or Thalia lost control of themselves, someone would be in a world of hurt. Currently, Percy felt like he was floating in the ocean; his body had relaxed and faintly he heard someone calling his name. It sounded a lot like...

"That's Grover!" Percy exclaimed, cupping his mouth and shouting up the hole, "Down here! We're down here!"

A few seconds ticked by and Grover was above them with a tall curly haired teen with a single blue eye in the center of his face standing behind him. Tyson, the dimmer than average teenage Cyclops, smiled down at his half-brother, "Percy!"

"Annabeth, Percy!" Grover sighed in relief, "Thank Pan you're both okay. I'll pull you up!"

"How are you going to do that? It's a eight foot drop," Percy asked, getting a look of bewilderment from Annabeth. Rubbing the back of his neck, Percy sheepishly replied, "Naruto, uh, taught me the way he learned how to measure distances."

_The hard way_, added the demigod as he recalled Naruto throwing Percy into the ocean from various heights with Blackjack's help. Percy still felt a little betrayed at the way his steed had laughed at him. Then again, he also felt sorry for Naruto, who had tried to teach the other three, only for Zeus to stop him from teaching the di Angelos and Thalia to threaten him with a pain beyond imaginable in a place no man would ever recover from. Percy had to hand it to Naruto; the blond had guts to shrug a threat like that off.

_Then again, I'm just not used to it,_ Percy thought as he looked up at Annabeth as she was pulled out of the Labyrinth. Percy's eyes glazed over when he accidently stared at the girl's jean-covered rear, not that he was aware of it. He was snapped out of it when Grover said, "Alright, your turn, Percy!"

"Yeah, sure," Percy mumbled, still a little dazed from the sight he just took in, jumping up to grab his friend's hand. Grover and Tyson pulled the teen out of the ground. Once he was back in the small cave he had entered through, Percy smiled at his half-brother and friend, "Thanks guys, for coming so quickly."

"Quickly?" Grover repeated in confusion while Tyson just beamed at his brother. Percy looked down at the hole and then around the cave, nearly having a heart attack when Annabeth's sabertooth Washington growled at him when his gaze went over to his teammate. The blonde girl grinned and patted her large cat on the head.

"Good boy, Wash," she praised, "Helping them find us."

Percy's eye twitched as he watched the cat turn into a happy puppy at the side of his owner. Washington _hated_ him, probably because of how negatively Annabeth had reacted to him stealing her hat when they had first met, and had taken to trying to trip him up whenever he wanted to hang out with Annabeth last winter. What made it worse, Annabeth refused to believe that the cat was out to get him. She just thought that he was being mean because he was a dog person, which was an ironic claim considering one of the first monsters that had tried to kill him was a Hellhound and afterwards there was an incident with Chimera disguised as a Chihuahua.

"Percy," Grover started, snapping the teen from his one-sided staring contest with Annabeth's Sabertooth, "We've been looking for you for _two hours."_

"What?" Annabeth and Percy questioned as one, equal amounts of surprise on their faces. They looked at each other before looking back at the concerned satyr.

"Grover...that can't be right," Annabeth said as she stopped lathering her cat with attention, "We were down there for maybe ten minutes at most."

"It was two hours," Grover said confidently. He should know, he was hypothesizing what horrible events could have happened to them while they searched. Tyson nodded, his curly locks bobbing with his head as his single eye turned into one full of worry.

"Yeah, me and Grover have been to the lake, the big hill, and searched most of the forest," the cyclops added, "I even got stuck in the entrance for a few minutes before Wash came and pushed me through."

Percy and Annabeth shared another look before the son of Poseidon came up with a hypothesis, "Time moves slower...like in the Lotus Hotel?"

"That could be it," Annabeth said before looking to Grover, "We have to tell Chiron about this."

The satyr nodded in agreement, turning around and squeezing through the gap. Tyson followed with a small push from Washington, the large cat following after him. Annabeth went next, and Percy followed after her. This was starting to look like it was going to be another one of _those_ summers, one that could mean the end of the camp. Realizing this, his mind went back to Thalia and Naruto and wondered how their mysterious quest was going.

* * *

A few hours prior, on a highway in the middle of Nevada, Naruto was pressing himself against the back of a black SUV while one of his old friends, and the term is used loosely mind you, took shots at him with a handgun, scaring the poor family within the vehicle. He heard the Skeleton step on broken glass in approach and the sound of a clip falling to the ground.

_This reminds me of that film you and Zeus' girl watched,_ Helios idly commented, _You know, the one with that huge muscle guy who sounds German. What was it called? Obliterator? No wait...Eliminator?_

_You're __**really**__ not helping right now,_ Naruto silently replied with a frown as he scanned the area before finding one of his stray arrows just a bit away from him. Pushing himself to his feet, Naruto dashed for the arrow, making the Skeleton hurry after him. A car was approaching and about to merge in the other lane to avoid the gunman, consequently causing the arrow to be shattered. Naruto pressed himself to run faster, diving for his arrow just as the car began to merge.

"**Hirashin!**" Naruto announced as soon as his fingers touched the arrowhead. The nearest point he could think of was at Thalia's side, which is where he ended up. Landing in the car and ignoring Thalia's gasp at his current state, Naruto panted before lifting his hand and grinning when he held the arrow within it. Slamming on the brake and tearing his seal off the accelerator with his other foot, Naruto waited until he came to a complete stop before looking at Thalia. Giving her a small apologetic smile, Naruto said, "Be right back!"

"Wait-!" But he didn't. Naruto once more teleported with the hood of the Peterbilt in mind. He had left that Skeleton unsupervised and two humans in a wrecked SUV at its mercy. That and he could hear honking horns and gunshots. Reappearing on top of the dreaded Peterbilt, Naruto pulled his bow out and prepared the arrow he had obtained. Flicking the nock, there was a brief hum before the arrowhead whirred and unfolded, turning into a blade-like arrowhead that was about two inches in width. Naruto whistled sharply, gaining the attention of the Skeleton, before releasing his arrow.

The Skeleton's head was severed from its neck and much to his ire the monster didn't dissolve into a pile of dust. It did get hit by a swerving car, though, sending its bones across the interstate. Come to think of it, none of the other skeletons dissolved into gold dust either. With a twitching eye, Naruto grumbled and asked, "What does it take to kill you guys?"

Sighing, he dropped from the hood of the Peterbilt cab, grunting as he landed on the ground. He jogged over to the SUV and knocked on the driver's window, peering in before he asked, "Hello~? Anyone home? Sorry I hit your car...Wasn't exactly my fault, but you know."

The driver's door opened and after he stepped back, Naruto had to do a double take at who stepped out. His mouth popped open before he dropped his bow, pointing at the man in shock, "Holy shit, you're-you're...You're Tristan McLean!"

Although concerned for the teen's safety, Tristan couldn't fight down his amusement, "Yes, are you alri-?"

"Oh shit," Naruto said as his eyes widened and his hands went to his head, "I just hit Tristan McLean's SUV! His fan base is going to kill me!"

* * *

"I'm just saying that he's starting to drive me up the walls," a displeased Thalia said as she sat in the car with her arms crossed, glaring at the empty driver's seat. Around her left wrist was Kyu in his bracelet mode. Since she lacked the ability to lend him chakra, he couldn't materialize in his spiritual form. And now he was stuck listening to his partner's chosen mate (or _girlfriend_ as the Kit insisted) complain about the Kit's suicidal/stupid plans.

**"Wow, you're slow on the uptake,"** Kyu commented, getting a glare from the daughter of Zeus, **"It's a curse of the Uzumaki to be as crazy as possible when in battle. A pregnant Mito, the Kit's great-grand cousin or something, once dove headfirst into battle when she heard her **_**beloved**_** husband had been scratched by a kunai. And let's not forget the Kit's mother! Talk about a nut job, now she's a woman I would rather be allied with than against."**

"What was his Mom like?" Thalia asked, fishing for information her secretive boyfriend refused to share. Whenever she asked him about it, he would smile and say that she would eventually find out. What irked her even more was that she had asked it in front of the di Angelos and Percy, both of who were given knowing looks from her blond boyfriend, which meant that _they_ knew something _she_ didn't.

**"Oh, no you don't,"** Kyu chastised with an audible frown in his voice, **"The Kit will tell you about Kushina in due time...All I will say is that he got his stupid suicidal plans and most of his personality from her."**

Thalia frowned, trying to think of what Naruto's mother looked like. She had to be beautiful, Apollo wouldn't have had a child with someone (even if he was amnesiac) who wasn't, let alone _marry_ them. And even _that_ had to mean she was beautiful. From what she could get out of the spirit within her boyfriend's weapon, she was feisty and bad at planning in the long term, coming up with crazy battle plans on the fly. The raven-haired punk of a demigoddess growled and closed her eyes in frustration.

"Ugh, I'm so sick of thinking about Whiskers' past," Thalia grumbled to herself. Kyu chuckled and she shifted a glare down to the gleaming red ruby on her wrist. A black slit appeared across the gem, looking up at her almost gleefully.

**"Then perhaps you should stop thinking about it and just beat the answers out of him,"** Kyu suggested.

Thalia's mouth curled up in a smile as she replied, "That _is_ tempting."

Before Kyu could say another thing on the subject, her door had been pulled open and Naruto peered in. Unbuckled, Thalia was free to jump out of her seat, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. Naruto grinned as he hugged the girl back, standing upright as he did so and consequently pulling her out of the Challenger as he did so. Putting Thalia back on the ground, the girl immediately punched him in the arm.

"You're a gods damned lunatic!" scolded the girl, "You just _had_ to go and do something crazy like jump out of the car while it was still moving! In case you haven't noticed Whiskers, I can't drive!"

"Sorry, sorry," apologized the blond teen as he rubbed his arm. He then gestured to his right and her left, to the father and daughter he had pulled from their wrecked car, and continued, "Thalia Grace, meet Tristan and Piper McLean."

Thalia gaped as she stared at the heartthrob movie star, a faint blush coming over her cheeks before shaking herself out of her daze and looking at the girl next to him. Furrowing her brows, she looked at Naruto questionably. The blond had a grim smile on his face and nodded, making her cover her eyes before asking, "Do they know?"

"Not..._exactly_," sheepishly admitted the blond, turning his girlfriend around and whispering into her ear, "Told them that we're secret agents...Tristan seemed to buy it a little to eagerly. Don't think he's the spiritual type so let's just keep our real purpose out here on the down low."

"A _secret_ _agent_?! That's the _best_ you could come up with?" Thalia hissed, slapping him in the arm once more. Naruto winced and rubbed his arm. That was going to bruise if she kept hitting him in the same spot.

"Dad's the God of Truths and I'm the reincarnation of the God of Oaths. I don't lie well...The only time I do is when I leave things out and it's really obvious when I do that," He admitted before realizing his slip and the slight widening of eyes Thalia gave him. Her eyes narrowed and a brief flicker of lightning danced across them that made Naruto's Adam's apple bounce as he swallowed.

"We're having a _long_ talk after we get to wherever we're going," Thalia snapped aloud before smiling at the father and daughter, "So, uh...Hi."

"Hello Thalia," Tristan greeted with a smile and a nod that would melt hearts, "Thanks for letting us hitch a ride with you."

Thalia sent another look to her boyfriend. Naruto sheepishly laughed, "I kind of...hit their car."

"A _long_ talk," Thalia reiterated, making Naruto nervously chuckle. She looked back to the movie star and his daughter before sighing, "Alright, let me move my bag first."

Once everyone was situated, Naruto slid his seat back in front of Thalia, who gave him another glare. He gave her an apologetic glance, but he and Tristan were too tall to comfortably sit in the back of the sports car. Tristan looked at the rear window and his eyes widened when he realized it was shattered.

"You weren't kidding when you said it was a dangerous job," Tristan mumbled before looking at Piper, "You all set, Pipes?"

"Da-a-ad," Piper groaned in embarrassment as the handsome blond and his equally beautiful partner laughed at her nickname. Tristan smiled and sat forward before looking at the blond driver.

"So what brings two secret agents, teenage ones at that, to Nevada's highway?" he asked.

Naruto grinned back at him, "Secret mission, what else?"

"Of course," the movie star chuckled out. The radio blared to life as the tires squealed, which was quickly turned down by the blond driver. He smiled apologetically to the amused Tristan, who waved it off.

The four sat in silence, save for The Used's _Pretty Handsome Awkward_ playing in the background, before Piper, a little curious asked, "So...how old are you, Naruto?"

Thalia arched a brow and a smirk tugged at her lips when the blond easily replied, "Seventeen."

"Seventeen? And you work for the government?" Piper asked with her brow furrowed. Naruto groaned inwardly while Thalia's smirk became more prominent. The girl was smart. Hopefully she was another Annabeth.

"Yes..." Naruto said uncomfortably, shifting in his seat. A strange feeling was coming over him, a lot like when that girl Drew...Oh dear gods no. Taking a deep breath, Naruto quickly started to expel chakra through his body in quick pulses. The last thing he needed was for this apparent daughter of Aphrodite to charmspeak him into telling her every single one of his dirty little secrets.

"Okay," Piper replied, unconvinced, "So where are you going?"

"California," Naruto replied. It was a reasonable destination considering where they were and who they were with.

"Why?" Piper asked. Naruto behind him briefly to look at the girl before looking forward once again, merging around another car.

"Trying to get a cover job," he answered, trying at least to stick with his first lie.

"What as?" pressed the young and unaware demigoddess. Thalia's smirk had turned into a full out grin and she was trying oh so hard not to laugh as her boyfriend's shoulders tensed. A sign of his annoyance at the way the curious girl was trying to pick apart his earlier statements.

"An actor," Naruto answered, his left hand gripping the wheel tight enough that he was cracking the plastic underneath the leather cover. Thankfully his rescue came in the form of the girl's father.

"An actor? That's not going to be an easy cover you know," Tristan replied, before adding, "Unless you have the right connections."

"Huh, what a shame," Thalia added in obviously false disappointment, "And he doesn't have any of those."

"Yes, it is a shame," Naruto said through gritted teeth, looking behind him at his amused girlfriend's eyes. He should've known that she'd be against him in this. This had to be payback for his game of chicken earlier.

"I could help if you like," Tristan added, nearly making Naruto lose control as his surprising statement made the blond choke on air.

"You could?!" Both Thalia and Naruto questioned in equal amounts of shock. The blockbuster star nodded.

"Sure, why not?" Tristan said with a shrug, "Be nice to have a friend in the business. And there's this script I was sent from a friend of mine, and they're looking for a blond teenager like yourself. The working title is _Theseus_."

"_Theseus_," Naruto repeated as his brows furrowed, "Like the son of Poseidon, Theseus?"

"That's exactly right," Tristan confirmed with a nod, ignoring the 'what the fuck' look Thalia had donned. The actor continued, "They wanted me to play the villain, King Minos, and I said I would if they could find the guy they were looking for."

"What's the story? Another ancient Greek remake?" Naruto asked. Tristan shook his head.

"No, they wanted to go another route," the movie star replied as the girls in the back listened to him, "A modernization of the story with a happy ending for Theseus."

_Take the job!_ Helios ordered, _Happy ending for the win!_

_How do you even know what that is?!_ Naruto asked internally while Tristan went into the details of the story. An alternate futuristic utopia ruled by the tyrannical king (Minos) who had a monster and a prison that acted as though it was alive. A young fisherman, Theseus, would be sent along with eleven others to the prison and would have to survive traps as well as evade the monster. There was a side-love story that made Thalia's jaw clench. Eventually there'd be a face-off between the Minotaur and Theseus and by that time, Naruto was sold.

"All right...so where are auditions taking place?" he asked, not aware of the way Thalia was glaring at him.

"Well, they're still in development but you could drop us off at the producer's office," Tristan said, "Mr. Lyre, whose the head of the production company, is a pretty nice guy and actually kicked off my acting career after his brother's wife saw my photo on his desk."

"Really, what's the production company?" Naruto inquired curiously.

Tristan looked to the west with a small smile on his face before he said two words that made Naruto and Thalia groan, "Sunrise Films."

* * *

**AN: You really didn't think I wouldn't have Apollo in this story? And not only is the Battle of the Labyrinth taking place, but Naruto is going to be in a Labyrinth of his own! Oh sweet irony. Can Naruto get the part? Will Annabeth and Percy dive into the Labyrinth? When will the Roman strike? Who's going to pay for the damages to Tristan's car? Where were the police?! And for gods' sakes...WHERE IS MY COFFEE!?**

**REVIEW!**


	5. V

**AN: I. DRANK. MY. COFFEE. Happy 2014 Everyone!**

**AN 2: The Reading Fic has been revived! Two authors have taken the challenge, but the first to post was none other than the talented author of **_**The Tides Change Once More**_**, my new buddy, Engineer4Ever!**

**Here's to you, Engineer!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**V**

* * *

Around the time Grover, Tyson and Washington were pulling Percy and Annabeth out of The Labyrinth; Naruto was internally groaning as he drove into the parking lot for San Francisco's Sunrise Films production company. Piper had managed to call him out on his secret agent lie, much to Thalia's amusement, and so he was forced to tell another half-lie: He had no idea what the scarred men had wanted from them (which was true; he wasn't sure if they were sent to kill them or capture them) and he got his strength and agility from his summer camp, not government facilities. Tristan, who was just playing along with the blond for the sake of his daughter, said he had no hard feelings about it so long as the blond agreed to meet with the producer for the film. Both Naruto and Thalia reluctantly complied with the request, leading them to the present.

Getting out of his car with a sigh, Naruto wondered where he had gone wrong on the quest to end up outside one of his Dad's domain doorsteps. Maybe he should've used those traps that the Hephaestus Cabin had built into his car. No, that was a stupid idea; both the wheel spikes and the oil slick could've caused a huge accident that would've attracted a _lot_ of unwanted attention. The S.O.L. Engine was a no-go because it wasn't fully tested. The last thing he needed to do was accidently blow himself _and_ his girlfriend up. He was pretty sure that Thalia wouldn't love him anymore if he did that.

Shifting his driver's seat forward, Naruto stepped back to let Thalia out. The ravenette stretched her arms above her head, her back releasing a few soft pops as it loosened up from sitting in the back. Thalia lowered her arms with a sigh before looking at the smiling blond. With a smirk on her face, she poked him in the chest, "Next time, you're sitting in the back with the kid."

"Oh am I really?" Naruto asked teasingly before raising his keys up to dangle in front of her, "Which of us is licensed again?"

"Which of us could care less?" Thalia retorted, making a grab for her boyfriend's car keys. Naruto quickly retracted the keys and put them in his pocket, smirking as she gave him a mock pout.

Patting the ravenette on the cheek, Naruto gave her another fox-like grin and winked, "Just a few more practice sessions with Chiron, babe, then you can drive to your heart's content."

"Don't call me babe," Thalia grumbled with distaste as she swatted his hand away. Naruto merely laughed and went to the trunk to get the McLean's stuff out of his car. The movie star in question was waiting right there with a small amused smile at their interactions, his daughter giggling. Naruto gave her a half-smile and winked before ruffling her hair, getting an annoyed growl from the shorter and younger girl that made him chuckle. It was the small annoyances he could provide that made him feel alive.

Once he had retrieved the three bags from his trunk and gave them out to the respective owners, Naruto and Thalia then followed Tristan into the building and went up the elevator to the top of the building to the twenty-seventh floor. The hallways were rather expensive in design; not to mention flashy like the God who apparently ran the company. As they walked past a wall of employee photos, Tristan paused and looked at the moderately larger image in the center. He looked from the photo to Naruto and then back before scratching his head, "Well...That's interesting."

"What is?" Piper asked before following her father's gaze and looking back at the blond teen following them. She repeated this several times before furrowing her brows and asking Naruto, "I thought you said you didn't have any connections in the business?"

"I don't," Naruto replied as he stared at the picture before he clapped a hand over his eyes and sighed, "I hate him sometimes. I truly, truly do."

"Do you know Lyre?" Tristan asked curiously, "A relative?"

Thalia, who was smirking at the whole exchange, gave her boyfriend a grin that made him want to cry. It was her mischievous grin, one that she had gotten during their few months as a couple. It showed up every now and again when he would tease one of his siblings, usually Lee and his girlfriend Katie Gardner, but sometimes it would show up when the moment was against him. This happened to be one of those times.

"It's his father actually," the daughter of Zeus said as Naruto hung his head. He really hated admitting that he was related to one of the most notorious womanizers in the universe, sometimes anyway. You'd be surprised when that sort of information would come in handy, not that you'd ever want to need it. Naruto was sure if his late sensei or Kakashi ever found out about one of the things his father had taught him, he'd be doomed to a life of pestering from perverts.

His mother, on the other hand, would probably try to find a way to slaughter a God out of sheer feminine fury or motherly rage. Not something he wanted to happen, and also something he really wanted to try and prevent. Hence, why he kept that sort of information secret.

"Really?!" Piper exclaimed as she stared at the amused older girl and the depressed blond standing next to her.

"Honest to gods, that's Whisker's dad," Thalia commented before jokingly commenting, "Maybe in another life I'd have hooked up with him, instead."

"You're _hilarious_," dryly commented Naruto while his mirthful girlfriend snickered. He sighed and looked at the McLean family's questioning eyes, or rather, distrustful in Piper's case, "He and my mom are...separated in a way. I took Mom's name to stay out of the spotlight."

"And where did 'Naruto' come from?" Piper asked. It was then Naruto's turn to grin mischievously, something that Thalia took notice of and caused her own smirk to widen slightly.

"Well, I'd have thought either your dad or your school would've taught you this already, but since it's come to this I guess I have to step forward. You see, Piper, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much they decide to have a baby. So first Mommy and Daddy take all their clothes off and then climb into bed. Though they could also climb into a car, onto a table, sit on a chair-" Naruto's rather humorous answer was cut off by a red faced Piper.

"I know _that_!" the girl exclaimed with a blush while her father laughed along with Thalia. Huffing, the embarrassed thirteen year old rephrased your question, "Is your name really Naruto?"

"Do you think I would choose a name like _that_ willingly?" the blond retorted with an arched brow. Her argument now invalid from the point he gave, Piper gave a little snort before turning away from the now smirking blond. Naruto shook his head, smile still in place, before looking at Thalia with a grin. The raven-haired girl nodded back, a silent agreement coming between them.

"We're almost at Lyre's office," Tristan said once his daughter had considerably calmed down, "I'm sure that the two of you have to find a place to stay so we should get this all done now."

"Let's get it over with," Naruto agreed with a sigh before once again following the McLean family through the hall with Thalia at his side. Piper had gone silent, but still sent the occasional glance over her shoulder at them, her eyes changing to match both Thalia's and Naruto's unique shades whenever she met the opposite's gaze. Finally, after a walk through the ridiculously long hallway, and passing several paintings, statues and murals of a certain deity, they arrived at a very expensive looking door. It gleamed as though made of gold and the logo of the company was on it.

As Tristan's hand lifted to knock, the door was pulled open and a familiar face to the two older demigods beamed from the other side of the room. Apollo had ditched the Konohan uniform, but still kept the face of Minato Namikaze. Now he was wearing a dark blue blazer with a white V-neck shirt underneath, and slacks that matched it. Hanging from his neck by a golden chain was a gold medallion engraved with a sun that looked almost Greek on design, but wasn't. Upon noticing the slight difference in the sun's design, Naruto stiffened slightly before looking to the Sun God's eyes and inwardly moaning in dismay. Rather than the warm ocean they usually were, two almost frosty blue orbs stared back at him.

"Tristan McLean! I haven't seen you in ages! What brings you here?" Apollo asked after briefly glancing at the two following him. The actor smiled and offered a hand, which was taken by the disguised god with a grin.

"Just here to tell you that I think I found the right person for Theseus' role," Tristan said before gesturing behind him, "And was I surprised when I found out you already knew him!"

"Were you?" Apollo asked as his smile strained slightly before relaxing as he reclaimed his hand. He turned to the side and gestured into the office, "Come in and give me a minute. I was just on my way out to check on something."

The McLean family entered and Thalia cautiously followed them before turning to her boyfriend, who had yet to make a move. He glanced at her and nodded before returning his attention to Apollo, prompting Thalia to enter the office. Apollo stepped out and shut the door behind him before facing his son.

"Naruto," the unnaturally calm God greeted with a nod.

"Phoebus," Naruto greeted as his eyes narrowed slightly. He really didn't like the Roman side of his father sometimes. Apollo wasn't much of a warmonger, but he did become more business oriented and serious when he became Phoebus Apollo as Naruto dubbed this personality, not to mention having his ego inflate tenfold. When he had first met Phoebus Apollo, the two had not gotten along well. Mostly because Naruto, as a Greek descendant, was a bit laid back in comparison when it came to just about everything.

"_Apollo_," corrected the God with a frown, "My name is still Apollo."

"You're Roman," Naruto commented as his arms crossed, "And you know that some called you Phoebus to differentiate your personas. I'm sure I could convince Diana to call you that if we ever crossed paths."

"...Smartass brat," grumbled the Roman aspect of Apollo with a scowl, "Why are you and Thalia here?"

"Why else? I have a quest that so happened to bring me to your doorstep," the shorter blond said before frowning, "And what's wrong with Thalia-chan being here? She's my girlfriend, and she insisted on coming, but that's not the point."

"Whoa, wait a damn second here," the Roman Sun God said with a hand raised. He looked back over his shoulder through the glass window to his right at the girl in question before looking back at the teen, "You're _still_ with her?"

"So what if I am?" Naruto asked, already dreading how this conversation was going.

"What are you doing, kid?!" Apollo asked him before knocking a few times on his slightly shorter son's head, "Hello! You have a _goddess_ waiting for you. Literally!"

After a moment of gaping at his Roman father, Naruto asked, "Are you talking about Hecate?"

"I'm talking about Trivia, yes," Apollo said before grinning suggestively, "There's the perks that come with being with her; the sex, the free loving, the occasional affair to liven up the bedroom. And then there's the whole immortality thing that comes along with it."

"...I sometimes am ashamed of you," admitted the teen, getting a scowl from his father, before he scowled back and replied, "And I'm not leaving Thalia-chan just because there's a Goddess who wants to jump me!"

"I'm just saying there's more fish out there," the Roman God said, "A Goddess is just the most beneficial. There's that little Bellona girl, what was her name?"

"Rey-chan is way too young for me!" Naruto argued before adding, "Physically anyway."

"Says the twenty-two-year-old dating a sixteen-year-old," countered the God with a smirk. At Naruto's growl he continued, "Well if you're going to be so picky why not go after Cyrene?"

"...Cyrene is like my great-great-great-great-grandniece!" exclaimed the blond before being shushed by Apollo, who looked over his shoulder at the waiting group of three with a reassuring wave and smile as they looked at him curiously. Turning back to Naruto, Apollo began to lead the blond away on a walk down the hall.

"The funny thing about those cabins is technically, none of those kids are related," Apollo explained to his son, "Unless they have the same mortal parent."

"...We share the same Godly parents," Naruto growled, "We are brothers and sisters."

"Of course you are," Apollo sarcastically said, "Every child in the cabin of Mercury, I'm sorry, Hermes, has the same father."

"That's different!" Naruto snapped, brushing the arm off his shoulders and glaring at the Roman, "Look, I know that you Gods supposedly don't have DNA, but you're made up of _something_ that makes you Apollo and not another mini-Zeus or Jupiter or whatever. All of us kids, even the Romans, have that _something_ within us. Cabins don't just represent the parents, they represent our family tree, our family bonds."

"Now you sound like Vesta," Apollo snorted out before continuing tiredly, "The point is that you could have someone you deserve! You're more than a demigod, you are just shy of joining the ranks of Immortals!"

"Not if it means leaving behind one of the first friends I made in this world, that _you_ brought me to without asking, by the way!" Naruto growled with an accusing finger to his father, "Not to mention that you're suggesting the girl I like, maybe even love, is someone I shouldn't be with!"

"She's beneath you!" Apollo argued.

"She's Jupiter's daughter!" protested the teen.

"She is _Greek_!" Apollo hissed as his eyes narrowed, "A _Greek_. You would rather have a _Greek_ than a Roman or a Goddess!"

"You're talking to your _Greek_ son!" Naruto pointed out through gritted teeth.

"You are the reincarnation of a _God_!" the Roman Apollo said before clasping his hands onto the teen's shoulders. His appearance turned gold for a brief moment, before revealing the debatably warmer side of Apollo, the Greek aspect. His attire had changed to the tank top and jeans combo, "Naruto, I _forced_ you to take a burden you should have never bared. You _deserve_ the best in return for what you've done so far, that's all I'm trying to say. I just want the best for you."

The two remained silent before the God shook his head and his appearance became that of what it was before, the Roman aspect of the Sun God in mortal disguise. Apollo shook his head and held it, "Whoa, blacked out for a second there, did my Greek-self say something emotionally stupid?"

Naruto stared at his father with furrowed brows before shaking his head. He was still angry and with good reason: his dad had just directly disapproved of a girl and then indirectly told him to follow his heart, even if that meant being with said girl. Stupid multiple personality disorder.

"How's about this, we agree to disagree," suggested the blond demigod as he tried reign in his temper.

Apollo shrugged, "Your choice. I'm just saying there's more fish out there, and you could always catch a bigger better one to eat and enjoy."

Clenching his teeth Naruto decided to change the subject before he really got pissed, "Why are _you_ using that face anyway?"

"Aside from the fact that I can chose whatever face I want, I find it easier to conduct business with a mature face rather than one of a heartthrob teenager," commented the God before he smirked and gestured to his appearance, "But I guess no matter what, you just can't change the truth: I'm a sexy Mo-Fo no matter where I come from."

"Humble, too," Naruto sarcastically added before he said, "I thought you'd already gone through the change a few months ago during New Year's Eve."

"It's easier to keep an eye on the biz when you're a part of it," Apollo replied with a shrug, "And lets face it, I wouldn't do anything as a Greek but read porn in the office or make Pornos with myself as the star."

"Like you don't have someone to give you the hanky panky on the side here," scoffed Naruto.

"Don't compare me with my other self!" Apollo said with a frown. His grin reappeared as he quickly added, "You'll only feel worse about you."

"There you go again with that humble trait we all share," snarked Naruto before he sighed, "Look, I didn't come here to argue over which side of you is the best, you're both equally annoying, McLean brought me here for a job I said I needed."

"And why did you say that?" Apollo asked as his smile became a confused frown, "I had a brief vision of McLean and his little Greek daughter appearing in front of my door, but much more clean and not as emotionally ruffled."

"That's partially why I said I needed a job," Naruto grunted as he pressed his two fingers to his head in an effort to stave off the coming headache, "Look Phoebus–"

"_Apollo_."

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled before looking up, "I have to get to Camp Jupiter. Today."

"You think that's a good idea, Fishcake?" Apollo asked, using his son's own dreaded nickname in retaliation for being called Phoebus. Naruto growled at him before shaking his head. He was letting this get too personal, and he was surprised that Helios was keeping quiet for so long.

"It's what has to be done to save Bianca's life," sighed out the blond after he shook off his aggravation.

"Alright, well I suppose I could give you a hand," Apollo said with a shrug before smirking, "But you have to audition for Theseus' role."

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Naruto agreed readily, "Can I get Thalia now and go?"

"I don't think you understood me, Naruto," Apollo said as he leaned down slightly with a grin on his face, "I meant: Audition. Now."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" exclaimed the blond in disbelief. His sun-like eyes searched the slightly warmer than usual ice blue eyes that were looking at him only to find no sign of this being a joke. In fact all that was within the icy ocean blues was the mirth Apollo found in the situation his son was in.

* * *

Naruto stormed out of the building's elevator with a slightly shocked Thalia following behind him. He was livid, he was embarrassed and he was _this_ close to flipping his shit!

Maybe that's why his portrayal of Jack Nicholson's monologue from _A Few Good Men_ was so good it got a standing ovation. And here he was trying to _not_ get the part _just_ to spite his father's Roman aspect, when all that accomplished was doing just what he intended not to do!

_...That...was...amazing,_ commented a familiar voice within his head.

_And where were you?!_ Naruto all but demanded of Helios. He could see the once Faded Greek God appear in front of him with his hands raised, prompting Naruto to stop walking towards his car. Thalia stopped before walking into her paused boyfriend and followed his gaze, frowning when she could see nothing.

_Hey, I wasn't about to get us thrown out of what was one of our only chances of legitimately getting into the Other Camp_, Helios defended himself before pointing at his incarnation, _Your attitude didn't help any either._

"It's not like I wanted to be annoyed, but damn he gets worse when he's in that aspect," complained the blond. He was then elbowed in the side, "Ow! Thalia-chan, don't hit me!"

"Stop talking to nothing then! And why did you stop walking?" inquired the girl with narrowed eyes.

Rolling his own eyes, Naruto gestured to the slightly offended 'nothing' and explained his actions, "Helios finally decided to reveal himself and is standing there."

"Not for me," Thalia grumbled as her arms crossed, "I swear if you're making this up we're going to have issues."

**"He's not,"** Kyu commented as he manifested between the two demigods. His eyes were squinting in Helios' direction, **"If you look hard enough you can see some sort of figure. And from my connection with the Kit, I can hear...something. It sounds like faint whispering."**

_See? The spirit animal can confirm your sanity,_ Helios joked, getting Naruto to glare at him.

"You're not funny," grumbled the blond, who was thoroughly annoyed at this quest's strange turn. He looked down at the medallion in his right hand that his father had given him after doing as he was requested. Apparently it would give both him and Thalia a free pass, but no more than two would be welcomed.

Peacefully, that is.

**"There it was again!"** Kyu commented, pointing in the direction of Helios, **"A tiny whisper, almost...human."**

"Alright, fine, so you're not crazy," Thalia said before giving her boyfriend a grin, "Well...no more than usual anyway."

Tapping the raven-haired girl on the nose, Naruto replied with a grin of his own, "Yeah, but that's what makes me irresistible."

"Part of your charm?" Thalia joked with a smirk.

"Damn straight," Naruto said with a smirk of his own.

**"Ugh, both of you go get a room,"** Kyu mocked, **"But be safe~!"**

"Alright, that's enough out of you," said the Guardian as he raised his right arm where the bracelet sat. The ruby shone while Kyu dissipated back into it. His 'spirit animal' now cowed, Naruto pointed at the manifestation of his past life who was grinning like a loon, "You too. Last thing we need is the security guards wondering why-What are you smiling at?"

"Wh-What was _that_!?" The two teens looked behind them to see the daughter of Tristan McLean staring in shock at where Kyu once hovered. Piper flickered her gaze between Thalia and Naruto before looking past them to something outside. Her eyes noticeably widened and she screamed while pointing at something beyond the gates of the building's parking garage, "What _is_ that!?"

Helios had vanished, Naruto and Thalia turned around once again to see a giant winged serpent staring at them. A long tongue, possibly three feet in length, flicked out while two snake-like eyes narrowed on them. The couple turned and shared a look of disbelief before Naruto turned to Piper.

"I'll answer your questions after you answer mine: What are you doing down here Piper?" inquired the blond teenager while his girlfriend reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her canister of mace.

"M-Mister Lyre wanted to talk to my dad alone about a new movie idea, something about ninjas," Piper stuttered out as she stared in horror at the creature waiting beyond the gate, "Why...Why is it just sitting there? What does it want?"

"In order of your questions," Naruto began as he stepped in front of Piper and clenched his fists, "That thing you saw was my pet fox. That thing out there is a Drakon...Aethiopian by the wingspan. It can't come here because of my dad. And it most likely wants to eat either me or my tasty girlfri_end_!"

He sent a glare to the girl that elbowed him in the side before looking behind him at the demigoddess shaking like a leaf. He thought back to his prophecy and a smile crossed his face before chuckling with a grin. Looking forward he muttered, "_Three take the Fire Steed neither West nor East..._"

"What?" Piper and Thalia asked. Naruto looked at his girlfriend with a grin.

"Told ya I'd meet up with my quest mates in California," he said before looking at Piper, "By the way...Did I mention that the two of us are Greek demigods? Oh...and so are you."

Piper stared at him in shock while Thalia roughly punched her boyfriend in the arm. Upon getting hit, the blond glared at her with a frown on his face, "Would you stop doing that? I'm not invincible, you know!"

"Don't drop bombs like that so nonchalantly then, you idiot!" Scolded the daughter of Zeus. They heard a muffled thump and looked down to the unconscious form of Piper before looking at each other once again.

"She's so dramatic," Naruto mock complained as he crouched down and picked the girl up in a cradling carry, "And light. Seriously, she's like a feather!"

Thalia rolled her eyes before jokingly asking, "Where do you think she gets that from?"

"Ha-ha...Do you think it's alright to just leave her like this? No, we have to take her back upstairs," Naruto said, turning to the elevator. The Drakon gave a bit of a roar and Naruto called over his shoulder, "Oh shut up, we'll deal with you later!"

As they boarded the elevator, Thalia asked, "So how did you know what kind of Drakon that was?"

"I like to read, remember?" Naruto said before reaching over and pressing the top floor's button while still keeping Piper in his arms. After doing so he looked down at the girl in amusement when she mumbled, "Think she's gonna forget what we said?"

"Knowing your luck, no," Thalia commented with a smirk as she pocketed her disguised bronzed spear, "What do you think Annie and Percy are doing right now?"

"Probably something lame like arts and crafts," Naruto replied, unaware of how very incorrect he was.

* * *

For at that moment in the elevator; Annabeth Chase was preparing to lead her first quest, having chosen Percy and Grover to take with her as they explored the Labyrinth. After getting some control over her nerves and excitement, Annabeth started giving one of her fellow cabin mates instructions on how to properly care for Washington. Percy was trying to convince Tyson that he'd be fine, but the poor Cyclops was far too concerned to take his brother's word at face value. Grover, perhaps was the luckiest of the three while preparing, getting a very concerned nymph to glue herself to him as they waited for the quest to begin.

* * *

**AN: More on the Labyrinth next time! Will Tyson still manage to join the group? How will Piper take to learning about her mother? Does Tristan allow her to go with the two older teens? Will Phoebus Apollo appear again? Will the TARDIS save the day–oh wait, wrong series. Will anyone else notice that I might have been watching **_**Doctor**__**Who**_** while writing this?**

**To find out there's only one thing left to do,**

**REVIEW!**


	6. VI

**AN: Damn, a lot of you noticed. Glad to see a bunch of Whovians, though! Thanks go to Engineer4Ever and TenshinG for assistance throughout my story. Friends, pseudo betas, and fantastic authors in their own right.**

**With my shameless plug out of the way, let's move on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**VI**

* * *

"Well...This is all sorts of wonderful, isn't it?" Grover mumbled as they came across yet another dead end. They had only just begun their quest and the paths they had been taking were either impossible to pass or led them literally nowhere. The satyr had agreed to come along after hearing what little of the prophecy Annabeth was given that could allude to Pan.

"Maze doesn't want us to pass," Tyson murmured worriedly from behind the satyr, "No stop changing."

"That'd be crazy, Tyson," Percy tried to calm his brother down with a pat on the shoulder. The concerned Cyclops came along despite Chiron's warning about the standard rule for a limit to companions. Annabeth argued that Naruto was given a quest and only took one companion, which was also frowned upon, and seeing as he couldn't divulge why Naruto had only taken one, Chiron reluctantly let it slide.

"Part of me wants to pull my hair out, and the other part wants to admire Daedalus' ingenuity," Annabeth commented through a grumble as she turned around and pushed past Percy and Tyson, "Come on, let's see if a new pathway opened."

The four explorers of the Labyrinth backtracked to where they had originally turned only to find yet another dead-end. Grover and Percy both hung their heads with a groan while Tyson started to pat against the wall in worry. Annabeth huffed in frustration before turning around and pressing her back to the new wall. Sliding down, she crossed her arms over her knees and rested her head on them. Percy went to calm Tyson down before his searching became frantic while Grover took a seat next to Annabeth.

"You alright?" the satyr asked his friend. Annabeth took a deep breath before raising her head.

"I really thought this was my chance to prove myself," she mumbled admittedly. A sigh escaped the blonde girl's lips before she continued, "That I was ready to be a Hero."

Under her breath, Annabeth added, "Just like Naruto."

Though with the silence in the corridor, Percy and Grover heard it just fine. Grover rubbed her shoulder in reassurance that he believed in her while Percy frowned at what she said. His brows furrowed as he recalled a conversation he and Naruto shared last winter, and what Aphrodite had told him. However, that conversation with Aphrodite was not one he wanted to explain to his friends or brother for that matter, so he focused on what the older demigod had said to him.

"When we were looking for Artemis, he mentioned that he found you first," Percy said, getting a look of surprise from Grover while Tyson listened with interest.

Annabeth nodded and her grey eyes turned to Percy, "He did. I'd probably be dead if he hadn't stumbled across me. Well, maybe not dead, but I don't know...He did most of the fighting before we met up with Thalia and Luke."

She gave a bitter laugh before continuing, "All I did was hide. Like a coward."

"Annabeth, you were _seven-years-old_!" Grover immediately cut in before she could say anything worse about herself, "The fact that you made it from California to New York, even in a group, is _amazing_!"

"I not do as good on my own," Tyson admitted, giving his own opinion on the conversation, "Hid a lot, too. Annie very brave."

"You don't understand!" Annabeth said with a frown to the two before looking ahead at the darkness of the Labyrinth, "Naruto never showed any fear, and when he fought...it was almost like a dance. A crazy, wild and unpredictable dance."

"Yeah, I'll bet those clones did a lot to make it look crazy," Percy added jokingly getting a snicker from Grover.

"He didn't use them," Annabeth interjected, making the two boys look at her in disbelief. She continued softly, "He couldn't...Normal people could see them. That's why he stuck with his bow."

"He didn't use his sword?" Percy asked in confusion.

Grover piped up before Annabeth could speak, "He didn't have it, remember? Kyubi became his sword and shield after he...died."

Annabeth shivered at the last memory she had before that night, forcing it back and continuing, "That's what made it even more impressive. A bow, some arrows, and a few irrational–no, _impossible_ movements and he took down monsters like he'd been doing it all his life."

Percy opened his mouth to speak when Grover sent him a look that made him shut up. He may have known that Naruto had been training to be a soldier since he was a kid, but Annabeth didn't. She didn't get the story behind the enigmatic blond, and Percy was sure that there was quite a bit left out of Naruto's story. Maybe one day they'd get the rest out of him.

Annabeth continued since Percy didn't speak up, "I asked him who he thought his parent was, wondering if there was even the slightest chance that he and I had the same mother, but he surprised me when he claimed he wondered whom his father was. He could've been a son of Athena with how amazing his planning was. He always managed to box the monsters in, finishing it quickly, and then walking away like nothing had happened. Blond, strategies that were efficient and effective; It screamed Athena."

"And to think, he's the son of one of the most laid back Gods that exist," Grover added, getting Annabeth and Percy to nod while Tyson tilted his head in confusion.

"I just want to prove that I could do what he did," Annabeth said after another moment of silence. As the group focused on her once more, Percy's heart skipped a beat at the smile she had donned, "When I watched him fight, I would think to myself: 'That's what a real Hero is like. That's going to be me, someday.' And this is it. My chance and I blow it by getting us lost five minutes in."

Her smile had faded and she looked down at her feet once again, making Percy furrow his brow. From what he understood, Annabeth wanted to prove that she could be a Hero like Naruto, and after meeting the teen and fighting alongside him (after getting through the rough beginning they had), Percy could understand why she wanted to do that. However, like stated before, Percy had _met_ Naruto and he wasn't as amazing as Annabeth was making him out to be. She must have him on some _high_ pedestal and was measuring herself to him all the time.

No wonder she was considering joining the Hunters last winter. Heck, Percy would too if he had a idol like that!

Another thought crossed his mind that made him gain a sinking feeling in his gut: What if Annabeth compared everyone with Naruto? Where did he rank? Would he even have a rank in comparison to the blond demigod?

Percy wasn't sure if he wanted to ask or not, but thankfully he was saved from making this choice when the wall started to shift once again. The group stood close together when the ground started to shake and clouds of dust shot up. Once more standing on her feet, Annabeth made a realization, "It's a platform. The platform is moving...Everyone hang on to something! We're on an elevator!"

There was a loud hiss before the Labyrinth's floor dropped the four screaming teenagers at an impressive speed. Their ride was fast and short, the platform settling once more with another hiss. A large open doorway was to their right and the questing quartet all got to their feet rather quickly.

"All in favor of _not_ taking that ride again?" Grover asked with a groan.

"Aye/Me." The other three replied with groans of their own while rubbing various portions of their body. They entered into the room hesitantly before being blown away with the strange set up. It looked like Greeks had once lived here, but had slightly changed. There was a shield with a sun engraved on it to the far right, making three of the quest takers think of a certain son of Apollo upon seeing it, but were shaken from their thoughts when a voice spoke.

"And who is that? Someone else trying to kick me out?"

The four turned to what looked like the average doorman with one major difference than any other normal person: he had two faces. One faced left, the other right. The left was set in a smile while the right had a frown. Both had dark golden beards that connected with their equally golden hair. The black eyes of either face were turned in their direction when the face on the left spoke as the adjacent hand rose in a wave, "Hello! Welcome to my humble abode!"

The four were too surprised by what they saw to speak, prompting the other face to open his mouth, "It figures. They're as rude as I heard they were."

Regaining her voice, Annabeth stepped forward and spoke, "Sorry, I've...We've never seen anything like you before. I'm Annabeth Chase, who are you?"

"Ooh, wonderful! I was hoping you would show up soon," The left face said gleefully, "I'm your best friend."

"I'm your worst enemy," the right face added with a noticeable deeper scowl on his face before they spoke in sync, "I'm Janus."

"The God of Beginnings!" The left cheerfully stated.

"The God of Endings," grunted out the right face.

"The God of Choices!" the two faces said at once.

"We've never heard of a God like you," Percy said, getting the right face to eye him.

"I should figure you hadn't," Janus' Right Face grumbled, "But I've heard of you, Percy Jackson."

"Who hasn't?" joked the Left Face.

"The Son of N-!" "Poseidon~!" Janus' Left Face cheerfully interrupted the Right.

"Whatever," Janus' Right Face grunted before pointing at Percy, "You've made many choices. The choice to study alone after my brother offered his aid, the choice to leave your mother behind on the Quest for the Master Bolt, and others that I don't approve of."

"Ah, but he did make choices that stopped the rising of The Crooked One multiple times," The Left Face of Janus chimed in, "But enough about him! Let's look at the leader, the Daughter of Athena!"

Both faces' eyes locked on Annabeth, and she was forced to choose to look at one of them. Choosing the Left, as it was the most welcoming and somewhat familiar, she asked, "What do you want with me?"

"I want you to make a choice, of course, silly girl," Janus said with his smile widening. He gestured behind him, to two doors, and continued while holding his other hand up, "Behind me is two doors. One on the left, one on the right. Both will lead you out of the Labyrinth and back on track. In my hand is a key. It will work in either door, but can only be used once!"

"I have to choose one of the doors?" Annabeth asked, "Is that all?"

"That's all. Right or left. Make a choice," Urged Janus. The blonde daughter of Athena took the key and looked at either door.

_There has to be more than just a left or right door, but what could it be?_ Annabeth asked herself. A troubling thought then crossed her mind and she looked to Percy, _Could it mean...?_

"What are you waiting for?" Janus Right Face interrupted her thoughts with a frown, "Choose! It's not that hard!"

"I don't know which one to pick!" Annabeth retorted. Janus' Right Face scowled deeper while the Left Face's smile fell slightly.

"Choose!" insisted the god.

"I-I..." Annabeth stuttered out, bringing the key closer to her chest as she stepped back from the minor god.

"That is enough, _Janus_," a stern voice said. Janus as well as the questing campers all turned to face the speaker, a woman, tall and beautiful. She was dressed in a white dress that flowed like oil on water as she gracefully approached the stunned god. Her long chocolate brown hair was woven into a braid and gold ribbons woven within it. Brown eyes filled with disapproval had locked on Janus, making the god's dual faces swallow.

"You are not welcome here, _Janus_. Leave," commanded the elegant woman.

Janus had vanished faster than Percy had thought possible, disappearing as though he were never there. The woman sighed and turned her gaze back on the four teenagers. Immediately, Grover fell to his knee and bowed his head, murmuring under his breath several prayers. Tyson became very shy and looked away, unable to gaze upon her with his eye, leaving only a very surprised Annabeth and a slightly confused Percy to be the only two looking at her.

"H-Hera..." Annabeth stuttered out, making Percy look at her and then back at the woman before he remembered why she looked so familiar. The son of Poseidon's face fell into a frown as he recalled their last meeting.

"Annabeth Chase," greeted the Queen of Olympus before she nodded to Percy, "Perseus Jackson."

"Percy," corrected the teen out of habit. He then asked rudely, "Why are you here?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!" Grover snapped out of worry before he bowed his head once more.

"You may stand, Grover Underwood," Hera said to the satyr before she once more looked at the demigod, "I am here to help you, Percy Jackson. Is that good enough a reason?"

"Forgive me if I don't believe you," Percy deadpanned, "You wanted me dead last time I saw you."

Hera frowned, "Not you particularly, but the..._other_ one could've been killed. It was nothing personal."

"Seemed pretty personal to me," mumbled the teen, but before anything could come of it, Annabeth spoke up, "Why are you helping us?"

"Maybe I just feel like it. Maybe I have something to gain from it. Or maybe," the Queen of Olympus continued with a small smile, "I wanted to see _you_ succeed, Annabeth Chase."

* * *

While Hera was assisting the questing quartet through the Labyrinth, Naruto was preparing an arrow. After they had gone back upstairs, Tristan agreed that it was alright for Piper to join them, on their way to the summer camp. Apparently, 'Lyre' had told him that's where they were heading and Tristan wanted his daughter to make more friends, perhaps nipping her shoplifting in the bud before anything worse could happen. So, confused and concerned, Naruto and Thalia resumed their original destination, though Thalia did ask what Tristan meant by a 'summer camp' only for Naruto to cut her off by promising to explain later.

"I swear to Rhea, Whiskers," Thalia said after rejoining him near the gates of the parking garage, "She's going to flip out if she wakes up in our car."

"With how she was asking questions before? Not a chance," Naruto said with a chuckle, "And you said it yourself, with my luck she'll remember what I told her."

The Drakon roared once more, making the couple look at it with frowns on their faces. Thalia prepared her spear and shield once more while Naruto knocked his arrow. The arrowhead split into two prongs as soon as he released the string. It flew fast and true, striking the Drakon in the snout as it looked down at them. Roaring in pain, the flying serpent took to the skies and flew away, making the teens share a confused glance before looking back at the Drakon as it fled.

"That's not normal," Naruto said in a murmur as his brows furrowed in thought, "Why was it here if not to fight?"

"Maybe it thought that we would just ignore it?" Thalia suggested, "Easy prey?"

"No," disagreed the blond, "The Crooked One knows our faces too well and Drakes aren't stupid by any means."

His eyes suddenly widened and a hand went to his head with a loud smack. Groaning he put his bow away and abruptly grabbed Thalia's wrist before turning around back towards his car. Thalia didn't have a chance to resist, running after him in order to avoid being dragged, "Whiskers! What is it!?"

"I'm an idiot, that's what!" Naruto said back to her before opening the passenger door and pushing Thalia towards it, "Get in! We have to catch that Drakon!"

The daughter of Zeus scrambled in the car while Naruto abused his **Hirashin** to appear within it, pulling his seatbelt on while Thalia shut her door. Before his girlfriend could ask what was going on, Naruto started the engine and peeled out of the parking spot, causing Thalia to reach up and brace her hand against the roof of the car. Glaring at him, Thalia warned, "You'd better not pull another stunt like you did earlier."

"I make no promises," Naruto said as his Challenger sped out of the parking garage. His eyes narrowed as he relocated the flying serpent, "Bingo. Wanna do me a favor?"

"If you even say what I think you're going to say, I'm going to kill you," Thalia spat.

"Roll down your window," He said, catching her off guard.

"Oh...Right," Thalia did as he requested, before looking back at her boyfriend with confusion on her face, "Don't you have a button that does that?"

"Needed a hand for this," Naruto said as he held his pad full of seals. Finding the one he wanted, he gave the pad to Thalia and said, "Rip that out. _Carefully_."

"How am I supposed to be careful when you're driving like a maniac?" the raven-haired girl asked him. Getting no response, she huffed and grabbed the top of the page before slowly ripping it out of place. Once she finished, Thalia closed the pad and offered her boyfriend the piece of paper, "Now what?"

"My kunai case is on your duffle's side pocket," Naruto said as he made a hard right turn, earning himself a loud blare of a horn, "Get one of them and wrap that around the handle."

"You do realize that having a window open isn't helpful, right?" Thalia asked before turning around and reaching for her duffle bag. Finding said pocket, Thalia opened it and then swiveled her head around to glare at him, "Why the hell are your knives with my underwear?!"

"I thought that was your pajama pocket!" Naruto said before a grin crossed his face as he realized what that meant, "Wait, you mean they actually made women boxers? ...That's sexy. And also very different than what you normally wea–ow!"

He was kicked in the shoulder before the comment could be finished. Thalia had just grabbed a knife when Piper started to wake up. Her kaleidoscopic eyes blinked several times before she focused on a grumbling Thalia and felt herself moving at a fast rate. Slowly sitting up, Piper looked outside to the blurs before looking forward, seeing the still grinning Naruto at the driver's seat. Her gaze went to the creature that was flying away from them and she said, "...It wasn't a dream."

"Oh, hey, your up!" Naruto said before looking at Thalia as she settled back into her seat, "Now when you wrap it, use the torn side first."

"Alright, now what?" Thalia asked as she completed the task. Piper wanted to ask what was going on, but was suddenly cowed into silence as Naruto narrowly avoided driving right into an oncoming truck. Naruto then turned down a not as busy street, following the flying Drakon as best as he could before it turned left where he couldn't.

"When I say so, throw it as hard as you can out your window," instructed her boyfriend before he made a hard left. As he drove down an abandoned alleyway, the blond teen looked up in the rearview mirror with a twinkle in his unique eyes, "Better buckle up, Piper!"

The girl did so as fast as she could. She had good reason to, as Naruto immediately pulled on the emergency brake and turned the wheel to the left once more when they came out of the alleyway, putting them just behind of the Drakon. The flying serpent pulled its wings back with a loud hiss as it tried to make a rapid turn. Naruto floored it and followed as close as he could.

"Now, Thalia-chan!" the blond exclaimed once he was right alongside it. Thalia leaned out of her open window, the blowing wind ignoring her as though she were apart of it, before pulling her right arm back and chucking the weapon at the monster. The kunai cut through the air, piercing the hide of the Drakon like it was nothing. The monster released a slight roar of pain but flew on, vanishing into the clouds. Naruto grinned in victory before looking at his girlfriend after she climbed back in.

"You've successfully just placed your first tracker, Thalia-chan," he congratulated, "Way to go!"

"So are we going to follow it now?" Thalia asked. Naruto shook his head.

"No, we don't have time," the blond said, much to her confusion. He smiled at her before looking forward as he drove, "I'll explain on the way. For now, we should really get to our destination."

"Which is?" Thalia pried, Piper listening in out of curiosity.

"...Camp Jupiter," Naruto said after a moment of silence, getting a displeased rumble of thunder from the sky. Rolling his window down, Naruto shouted back, "Hey, she's _your_ daughter! You wanna argue with yourself? Didn't think so!"

Looking in the rearview mirror, Naruto asked their other passenger, "So how was your nap?"

"You're demigods...and that was a dragon," Piper stated, before slapping her cheeks, "This has to be a dream, wake up, wake up!"

"Denial is such an ugly thing," Naruto sighed out as he looked at his girlfriend, "Anything else you want to ask?"

"What's Camp Jupiter?" Thalia immediately asked, only for a bolt of lightning to fly down and strike near them, "What the hell was that?!"

"That was Rai-Jiji trying to keep you away from the Other Camp," answered Naruto with a frown, "I knew you shouldn't have come...Damn prophecies."

"Prophecy? What you mean like one of those horoscope things?" Piper asked from the back, having given up on trying to wake herself up. Naruto looked at her from the rearview mirror with an arched brow.

"Close," Naruto said before he started to explain what a prophecy was. He then went on to answer as many questions that he could about the whole situation, save for the usual "Who's my mother?" question that popped up. Thalia had to interject to save her boyfriend's hide, explaining that only the Gods could claim who their child was, except for the di Angelos, who were special cases since Naruto was sent personally to protect them from danger. This led to her asking why the di Angelos weren't with them, and Naruto explained that they were too inexperienced to go on a quest with him, and that one of them was ill with a disease no one had ever seen before. The whole conversation took just long enough for the group to come up on a gas station just a few minutes outside of Caldecott Tunnel, where Naruto said they'd have to walk through.

"Do we really have to walk?" Thalia asked as Naruto locked his car before slapping another one of his seals on it.

Piper, noticing the strange ink as it shone, asked, "What's that?"

"Yes, Thalia-chan, we have to walk," Naruto said as he sealed away Thalia's and Piper's bags, "And that, Piper, was an avoidance seal. The seal makes the eyes of any mortals glance over it like it was never there. What I just did was put your bags in a pocket dimension seal, something I should've done in the beginning."

"How?" Piper asked. Naruto grinned and tapped the side of his nose.

"Secret," he said, making the girl pout angrily. Thalia rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics, but smiled nonetheless at the two of them interacting like siblings as they started their journey on foot. The thought made her think of Annabeth, wondering how the precious brain of their original group was doing or if Percy had made a move yet. Knowing how he was, Thalia wouldn't be surprised if Annabeth had to be the one that made the first move.

Her thoughts then went to Jason, the little brother she lost so long ago. She missed him every day and still wondered what had happened to him. Pushing the painfully happy memories of her little brother away, Thalia snapped out of her trance when Naruto interlaced his fingers with hers. The blond's unique sun-like eyes had looked at her in worry and she gave him a small smile as her hand squeezed around his. Thalia could mope later; right now she should focus on the quest her boyfriend was on. It would help take her mind off of those sorts of things, anyway.

* * *

Unbeknownst to any of the three demigods, a pair of dark eyes narrowed before the owner of said eyes raised a finger to their collar, "(Target found. Initiating pursuit.)"

* * *

**AN: And so I leave you with a final sentence. Poor Thalia is haunted by a memory that is about to rear its head once more. Piper seems to be taking this rather well, right? Is Hera up to something, or does she really want Annabeth to succeed? Will there be a confrontation in the next chapter? Will more of the prophecy come to pass? Can I get a boo-yah?**

**To find out there's only one thing left to do,**

**REVIEW!**


	7. VII

**AN: I got some Boo-Yahs! Oh yeah! Now, this is mostly a flashback chapter. You'll enjoy it. I hope.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**VII**

* * *

Naruto reached down and picked a rock up, chucking it at the fleeing group of teenagers that had drove by and hit him with a water balloon, "SON'S OF BITCHES!"

"Aw, come on Naruto, it's not that bad," Thalia said between her laughter while next to her Piper had broke into peels of laughter. They had been walking for a good ten minutes when the Jeep full of teenage guys rolled up alongside them, hooting and hollering. Naruto told them to buzz off, and in retaliation they threw a water balloon at him.

"Not that bad? Thalia-chan, look at me!" Naruto gestured to his crotch angrily, "I look like I pissed myself!"

Thalia rolled her eyes while Piper bit on her lip to try and stop her laughter at the older teen's predicament. The raven-haired demigoddess patted her disgruntled and embarrassed boyfriend on the cheek. Leaning in, she whispered, "Why not dry it off, _hot stuff_?"

Naruto's angrily furrowed brows relaxed as he mulled over her words and he blinked before groaning and covering his eyes with one hand. Dragging the hand down his face, he muttered incoherently before he smiled at his girlfriend and cupped her face in his hands. After breaking away from a kiss on the lips, Naruto whispered to her, "I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

Smirking at him, Thalia stepped back and put a hand on Piper's shoulder. The younger demigoddess, a bit embarrassed from watching the couple kiss, gave her a confused brow. In response, Thalia just said, "Just watch. You'll see."

Naruto cracked his neck before clapping his hands together and then said, "Okay, haven't had to heat myself up in a while. Here we go."

Closing his eyes and tilting his head back, Naruto dropped his hands to his sides and relaxed his body, letting his chakra flow speed up and heating his body. Piper opened her mouth to ask what he was doing when she saw it. In a blink of the eyes, the blond demigod became a living being of golden light. It was different from his God Mode, not blindingly bright, but just enough to accent his sun-kissed skin tone as well as heat up his body, enough to the point that his pants immediately dried and looked good as new. Opening his still blue eyes, Naruto was the first to see the gob-smacked look on Piper McLean's face.

"Wow..." The young demigoddess uttered. She looked up at Thalia before looking back at Naruto, "Your boyfriend is hot."

Thalia faltered for a moment, prompting Naruto to grin as he lost his glow. He then vanished, the light bending around him and his clothes. Piper blinked and started to look around for the teen only to swivel around when Thalia made a noise of surprise. She was shocked to see Naruto hugging Thalia from behind with a roguish grin on his whiskered face.

"See that, Thalia-chan?" Naruto asked his squirming girlfriend as he sent shivers up her spine by expelling small bursts of chakra from his arms, the equivalent of a tickle. He nodded to the thirteen-year-old and continued, "Even Piper thinks I'm irresistible."

"Hey, I never said that!" Piper interjected with a small frown, "I just said you were hot! Literally!"

"Uh-huh," the still smirking Naruto replied before leaving a peck on Thalia's cheek. The younger girl rolled her eyes while Thalia lightly elbowed her boyfriend with a faint blush over her own crossing her cheeks. The son of Apollo merely chuckled and released his girlfriend.

"That's enough goofing off, we've got maybe a fifteen minute walk before we get to the tunnel," Naruto said to the two before he dramatically pointed away, "Allons-y!"

The blond demigod took off in a run, making Thalia shake her head at his antics. Piper just stared at his running form in disbelief, turning to Thalia and asking, "Is he always like that?"

"Only after he forces his energy to speed up," Thalia explained with a smile as they followed the now hyperactive teen, "He'll calm back down after a few minutes."

"...He's nice," Piper said after a brief silence. Thalia glanced at her and the demigoddess continued, "I mean, he's more, uh...and you're, um..."

"He's a goof and I'm kind of rough, right?" Thalia asked, getting a meek nod from the younger girl. Thalia gave her a small smile and then looked back at her boyfriend that was now walking on his hands a few feet in front of them. The daughter of Zeus lightly giggled at his actions before she spoke again, "That's just how we are. He's more touchy-feely than me."

"How did you two even meet?" Piper asked, watching the blond as he stopped walking on his hands and flipped forward to his feet.

"That's actually a pretty fun story," replied the daughter of Zeus. Thalia's eyes glossed over and a more serene smile crossed her face as she thought back to when they met.

* * *

_Thalia panted as she and Luke rounded another corner, their frantic running coming to a halt. They had just left the house of Halcyon Green, a house filled with monsters determined to kill them because of who their parents were, and all she got out of it was a bracelet that turned into a shield. A badass shield, mind you, but still, there could've been more than just a shield and monsters...like something that did more than scare them away for a bit. Looking around, she discovered they had entered an alley filled with scraps of iron, most likely from the nearby iron factory yard that they were separated from by a chain-link fence._

_"We should rest here," Luke suggested, still regaining his breath. Thalia nodded to the boy slightly older than herself before both plopped down with their backs to the building on their left. They could still hear faint roars and crashing from their pursuers, but at least they could rest for now._

_They got that rest for about five seconds before a rattling sound was heard. Luke and Thalia both scrambled to their feet, readying their weapons and searching the alleyway. Luke noticed it first, pointing a few feet away at a shaking sheet of corrugated iron leaning against the building with his free hand, "There."_

_"It can't be a monster," Thalia whispered, "Could it?"_

_"We have to be ready for anything," replied the elfish teen, "Cover me."_

_Thalia rolled her eyes but turned around nonetheless and watched the entrance to the alley. Luke carefully and quietly stepped towards it, his shaking hand reaching out to grasp the sheet of iron. He took a deep breath before grabbing the iron and pulling it back, "Got you!"_

_"AHH!" screamed a young girl that was hiding behind the iron. She was short, as were most children, and had blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. Before Luke could recover from his shock at finding a kid, the young blonde girl with eyes squeezed shut charged forward, brandishing a small black knife that she used to slash at him. Luke released a surprised cry of pain as it cut him across the front of his chest, thankfully not deep enough for anything serious, but surprised him enough to make him fall to his back._

_Thalia turned around at the girl's scream, but didn't recover from her own surprise to stop the girl from cutting her friend. When the younger girl did climb on top of Luke and brought the knife above her head to stab him, the raven-haired girl acted, rushing forward and tackling the younger girl off of him._

* * *

"Wait a minute, she almost stabbed him?!" Piper exclaimed, cutting Thalia off. The cry got their now calmed down quest leader's attention.

"Who almost stabbed who?" Naruto asked curiously as they neared the Caldecott Tunnel.

Thalia smiled and nudged her boyfriend with her arm, "She asked how we met."

"Ohh..." Naruto said with an understanding nod before he grinned, "Annie stabbing Luke?"

"Yep," Thalia said with a nod.

"Why would she stab at him?" Piper asked curiously.

"'Stab first, ask questions later'," the couple answered in unison. Thalia nudged the blond's arm, "This idiot can be so paranoid at times."

"I'd rather you be alive and guilty of murder than you dead," Naruto replied softly, making Thalia smile at him. He cleared his throat and nudged her, "Well go on! I want to hear how awesome you thought I was."

"You wish," Thalia retorted before she continued.

* * *

_Wrenching the blade from the girl's hand, Thalia exclaimed, "Relax! Relax! We aren't going to hurt you!"_

_"Wh-what?" the girl asked, opening her eyes and revealing two grey eyes to the older girl. She looked at Thalia, then Luke, before scooting away and glaring at them, "Who are you? Where's Naruto? Where is he? What did you do to him?"_

_"Who are you talking about?" Thalia asked as she sat back on her knees and then looked down at the girl's knife in her hand, "What kind of dagger is this?"_

_"Who are you and where's Naruto?!" demanded the young girl. Thalia was looking at the knife and then looked back at the girl as she made the correct assumption that the girl before them was another demigod._

_Luke, who had gotten over his shock and had managed to confirm his cut wasn't too bad, walked over to Thalia's side. Raising his hands, he said, "Easy. I'm Luke, and this is Thalia. We're demigods, too."_

_The girl's eyes flickered between them distrustfully before she answered, "Annabeth Chase. Where's Naruto?"_

_"We don't know anyone named Naruto," Luke answered as Thalia got to her feet. The three of them tensed when there was a rather loud boom. Annabeth looked to the building Thalia and Luke had rested against in worry, making the two older demigods follow her gaze._

_"Look, kid, we need to get moving," Thalia said, taking a step towards the girl and offering her the strange weapon, "Here's your dagger."_

_"It's called a kunai," Annabeth answered with a frown as she took the weapon, "I'm not going anywhere without Naruto!"_

_"We don't have a chance if we stay here," Luke whispered to Thalia before looking at Annabeth, "Listen, Annabeth, we can't wait here for Naruto. It's not safe!"_

_"I'm! Not! Going!" Annabeth cried back, lifting her dag–no, kunai up defensively, "Not without Naruto!"_

* * *

"Aw, she really said that?" Naruto asked with a smile, "Sweet little thing, Annie is. She makes me so proud to be her brother."

* * *

_Thalia groaned and opened her mouth to argue once more when there was a louder boom. The three demigods all turned to their left at the building, where Thalia and Luke had rested, as another loud bang came from within. They took a weary step back when dust shot out from the side in between the bricks. Annabeth shakily raised her kunai while Thalia and Luke prepared their own weapons._

_There was another shot of dust before Thalia was forced to raise her shield to protect herself from the debris as the wall exploded. Out skidded a giant metal bull, gleaming bronze in the streetlight, breaking through the chain link fence and slamming against a giant bin. From the still settling dust, walked out a panting teen. His blond hair wild and untamed; he stood about as tall as Luke, but dressed in jeans with a strange black box strapped to his left leg and a white jacket with red flames that glistened unnaturally bright in the night. In his left hand was a golden bow that shone like the sun and slung over his shoulders was a quiver._

* * *

"And he was handsome..._Right_?" Naruto pried while looking at his girlfriend.

Thalia glanced at him for a good moment before smiling, "Yes...Yes, I suppose he was handsome."

"Yes!" Naruto said with a fist pump. He'd never gotten her to say it in public. Piper rolled her eyes while Thalia shook her head and continued.

* * *

_"You...Are a pain in the ass to kill!" the teen said with a cough before slinging the bow over his shoulder, "Arrows don't do jack, your body is made of metal and it takes a friggin **Oodama Rasengan (Great Ball Spiraling Sphere)** to send you packing?"_

_"Naruto!" Annabeth cried out in joy and relief. She made to run to him when a raised hand kept her in place._

_"Stay back, Annie!" the teen, Naruto, ordered as he looked towards them. Hardly giving them the time, the teen looked back at the bull and frowned, "Colchis Bull. You just had to be a Colchis Bull."_

_The Colchis Bull snorted and let out a fiery snort before a mechanical roar escaped it's mouth. Naruto grinned and cracked his knuckles, "Alright...Let's do this!"_

_He held his hands up in a strange form-_

* * *

"Hand seal!" Naruto interjected with a frown.

"Whatever," the daughter of Zeus replied as her eyes rolled.

* * *

_He held his hands up in a _hand seal_ that looked like he was crossing his index and middle fingers. Suddenly there was an exact replica of the teen, making Thalia and Luke's jaws drop._

* * *

"Hold on, replica? You can clone yourself?" Piper asked, "I thought Apollo was the God of the Sun and Prophecies."

"Gift from my Mom," Naruto answered as he snapped his fingers and a duplicate appeared. He punched it and it disappeared just as quickly, "Give me an open field and I could make an army. Only downside is, that army could be eradicated in one strike."

"It gets weirder than that, trust me," Thalia comforted the disbelieving demigoddess before continuing with her story.

* * *

_The original's hand extended and the clone cupped his hands over it. The one with his hand extended continued to speak, "Maybe a few more **Rasengans** will bust you a-!"_

_The Colchis Bull reared its head back and then flicked it forward, a saw blade flying from a slot in the center of its head. Annabeth cried out the teen's name as the blade sliced through the new duplicate. Rather than fall to the ground, the body exploded into smoke, making Naruto look over at it._

_"Part..." Naruto dryly finished. His hand fell to his side and he laughed nervously, "Well look at that. You shoot disks."_

_The Colchis Bull released a mechanical bellow and charged at Naruto. The blond yelped and dove into a roll towards the three demigods, avoiding the charge. Coming out of his roll into a crouch, pulling a knife from the container on his leg and tossing it as the Bull stumbled over itself in an effort to turn. The beast was struck in the eye, making it veer into the wall of the building; slowing it down and making it stop. If she had to be honest with herself, it was very impressive._

_Naruto rose up and turned around, running towards them. Thalia could see his shirt, or rather, what remained of it. Scorch marks covered an ironically burnt orange T-shirt, revealing hints of a toned torso underneath._

* * *

"And you liked what you saw? Ow!" Naruto exclaimed when Thalia shoved him into the wall of the hidden shaft within the Caldecott. Rubbing his shoulder he asked, "Why are you so mean to me?"

"Call it tough love," Thalia replied with a smirk before she resumed telling the snickering Piper the story of their first meeting.

* * *

_Naruto ran past Thalia, turning to the side and grabbing Annabeth under her shoulders, picking her up and running. Over his shoulder the blond cried out, "RU-U-UN!"_

_Thalia and Luke exchanged a glance before following after him._

* * *

"And we ran, and ran, and ran," Naruto cut in with a smile on his face before he laughed, "Almost lost it at an intersection, though. Remember that?"

"How could I forget? The look on that guy's face when his newsstand was destroyed out of nothing!" Thalia laughed along with her boyfriend. The two smiled in remembrance as they walked, before Naruto's eyes widened and he walked ahead of the two girls, turning around and walking backwards.

"Oo, can I tell the next part?" Naruto asked, looking at the raven-haired girl with a pleading pout, "Please?"

"No! I'm telling the story," Thalia said with a smirk.

"I'll make _that_ face," threatened the son of Apollo. Thalia stopped walking, making the other two copy her. Piper's brows furrowed as she looked between the two, wondering what _that_ face was.

"You wouldn't dare," Thalia said as her face fell into a look of slight fear.

"Oh...Just try me," Naruto said, his whiskered cheeks widening in a smile that made the daughter of Zeus' spine freeze.

"I swear to the Gods if you do what I think you're going to do I'll...I'll..." Thalia tried to counter, only succeeding in making Naruto grin. A warm blush started to spread across her cheeks as she recalled the last time Naruto used _that_ face, on the Quest for Artemis. The image she saw shortly afterwards, the child with hair as dark as her own yet with eyes as blue as his, the face that laughed at her in her dreams...Dreams of hope that is.

"You know how easy it is for me," Naruto teased raising his left hand's index and middle fingers, "Just one flare of chakra."

"...You _infuriate_ me sometimes, Naruto Uzumaki," Thalia growled. Naruto grinned, moving in a flash of light and reappearing with his arms wrapped around her. He brought his forehead down against hers, a smile on his face.

"Glad that there's one way I can keep _you_ in line," he joked before kissing her deeply. After a moment of their originally chaste lip-lock, Piper flushed bright red as Thalia relaxed into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and turning it very intimate. The young demigoddess wanted to say something, interrupt maybe, but there was a part of her that didn't want to. Some part of her wanted what the two in front of her had. She may be a tomboy, but that didn't mean she wasn't a girl, scratch that, human! All humans crave companionship...from the simplest of friends to the deepsignificant others. Maybe someday. For now, Piper gathered enough nerve to clear her throat, causing the two to break from their minor make-out session. Thalia blushed while Naruto grinned. Moving to keep his right arm over the raven-haired daughter of Zeus' shoulders to keep her from hiding away, the blond Guardian looked at the bright red-faced and glaring daughter of Tristan McLean.

"Where were we?" Naruto asked before nodding, "Right. Killing the Colchis Bull. Well after we got through Richmond, we made it to a nice little park. I handed Annabeth to a clone and led the Bull away..."

* * *

_"Split up!" Naruto instructed the group as he handed Annabeth to his clone. Thalia broke off after him, Luke after the clone carrying the concerned Annabeth. The Colchis Bull chased after the original blond, bleating out fire as it did so._

_"Anymore bright ideas?!" Thalia asked as she followed the older teen. Naruto looked over his shoulder at the running Bull and then looked ahead of him. There was a bench that would maybe give them a millisecond of extra time if they ran around it, and beyond that was a pond._

_"I've got it!" exclaimed the blond with a grin. Pointing at the bench, he continued, "Run past the bench! Get to the pond!"_

_"Then what?" the raven-haired demigoddess asked, "We go fishing?"_

_"Just trust me!" Naruto said as they approached the bench. As Thalia ran around it, Naruto jumped over the bench with ease, while their pursuer smashed through it like it was nothing. Naruto looked behind him at the Bull before tossing another kunai at the mechanical monster. Piercing another eye, the Bull roared in fury as it started to trip._

_Naruto dove at Thalia, tackling her to the ground and out of the way of the tripping Colchis Bull. The Bull went head under hooves into the pond, entering the small pool of water with a large splash. Naruto grunted when he got drenched, rolling to his back next to the younger demigoddess. They waited for a moment before Naruto stood, looking down into the pond._

_"Stupid machine," said the teen as a grin started to come over his face. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Naruto called out, "Regroup!"_

_He turned and offered Thalia his hand, "That was fun, right?"_

_"...Fun? You call almost dying, fun?" Thalia questioned in disbelief. Naruto shrugged._

_"Yeah, well, you only live once, right?" he said as she took his hand. Pulling her up, Naruto smiled down at the shorter girl, making her blush under his fox-like grin._

* * *

"I didn't blush!" Thalia interjected with a frown.

"Oh, yes you did," Naruto said with rolled eyes, "Besides you even told me you like my smile. I think that was last week, even."

Piper bit on her lip to keep from laughing when Thalia blushed and stormed ahead. These two were better than television sometimes. Naruto chuckled before looking back at the thirteen-year-old, "She'll get over it."

* * *

_He looked at the raven-haired girl with spikey hair that went down to her shoulders. She had a face that would narrow out from cute into beautiful, two electric blue eyes that looked back up at him in curiosity. A large leather jacket with a few scratches here and there, but otherwise looked good on her. In her right hand was a spear and around her left arm was a shield with the face of Medusa plastered on it. The shield made him pause, taking it into his hand._

_"Aegis?" He asked, blinking in shock when the shield shrunk down into a bracelet, "...That was cool."_

_"How did you know to do that?" Thalia asked, before blushing once more as she realized he was still holding onto her, "Let go of my arm!"_

_"Sorry," apologized the blond. He reached up and scratched at the back of his head, "I do a lot of reading and –Watch out!"_

_Naruto shoved the girl away from him, making her stumble back as the Colchis Bull suddenly barreled into his side, sending him rolling into the park. He heard his name called out by a familiar voice, eyes widening when he realized who that voice belonged to; "Annabeth."_

_Pushing himself to a seated position, Naruto groaned and looked through a squinted eye at the mechanically bronze monster that snorted fire standing a good forty feet from him. The slit in its head opened and a saw blade made of bronze was revealed, spinning rapidly as its head reared back. Naruto faltered for words, thinking of how he was going to get out of this. Grabbing his bow and an arrow, Naruto knocked the small bronze arrow in place, swallowing as he took aim. The world around him slowed down as he focused on the launched projectile. He released his arrow, sending it flying and knocking the approaching death weapon off course. The saw flipped in the air before landing harmlessly to the side._

_Naruto and the Colchis Bull stared at one another before the Bull bellowed out a roar, fire leaving its mouth as it did so. It charged forward and Naruto prepared himself to jump when there was a boom of thunder. The Bull paid no mind to this and continued to charge, until a bolt of lightning struck it. Naruto had to shield his eyes with his arm, carefully watching as the beast was electrocuted into death. Gold dust spilled from the monster as it fell, allowing him to see the raven-haired, spear-wielding demigoddess standing behind where the Colchis Bull once stood. Her left hand was extended and her breathing was heavy._

_"...You can use lightning?" He asked as Annabeth, the clone and Luke rejoined them. The girl took in another breath before she nodded, making Naruto's brow furrow, "But...that would mean..."_

_"Thalia Grace," Thalia said introducing herself as she rested on her spear, "Daughter of Zeus."_

_"...The Super Pervert is your dad?"_

_Thalia gaped at him while the sky boomed in anger. Luke likewise had a look of shock on his face. Their surprise was broken when the blond's clone exploded after Annabeth had escaped its clutches. She ran forward and wrapped her arms around Naruto's leg, making the taller blond look down at her in surprise and then with a smile. A hand on the young demigoddess' head, he looked back up at the other demigods with a grin._

_"That's cool. At least you know who your parent is," he said, "Name's Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze! Nice to meet you, Thalia-chan!"_

* * *

"And the name stuck ever since," Thalia groaned jokingly, making Naruto grin at her. She had gotten over her little temper tantrum and fell back in line with them, where Naruto promptly threw his arm around her shoulders once again. It wasn't like she minded.

The sun-eyed blond poked his girlfriend's side with his free hand, "Oh you know you love it."

"Maybe now I do, Whiskers," Thalia retorted, "But back then it was annoying as hell."

"Hold on, there's something I don't get," Piper said as they came closer to the exit door. Naruto and Thalia looked at the younger girl, making her continue with her question, "Thalia, you said Naruto's eyes were blue. But now they have this...sun in them. Did he have it then, too?"

"Nope," Thalia said, looking at her boyfriend's eyes with a small smile, "He just showed up with them last year."

"Has to do with my title: Helios' Heir," Naruto explained with a shrug, "Hopefully I'll have to demonstrate and not show you in battle."

"If you say so," Piper mumbled as her eyes went to the door, "So that's it then?"

"Sort of. We still have a long walk ahead of us," Naruto explained as he reached out and pressed his hand against the door, "But I guess this reveal will have to do."

Pushing the door open, Naruto revealed a bright sunlit area, a grassy plain and in the distance, a walled city. As the three exited the Caldecott Tunnel's hidden entrance, Thalia and Piper stared at the walled city. Naruto extended his arms and took a few steps forward, "Ladies, welcome to the home of the Romans. Welcome to Camp Jupiter!"

* * *

As the three walked forward, their mysterious pursuer silently slipped out of the tunnel. The two dark eyes narrowed once more and he dug into his pocket, pulling out a kunai not unlike the ones Naruto carried, with a tag already wrapped around it. His headband, strapped to his arm, had the kanji for Shinobi engraved in it. Spinning the kunai in his finger by the small hole at the end, the shinobi threw the blade down a few feet in front of him, where it dug into the ground.

There was a large cloud of smoke and three figures joined the first. One stepped forward, calm and collected, "(Is he here?)"

"(Just a few paces ahead,)" replied the one who had summoned them, "(We'll take him before he can alert this...Camp of our presence.)"

"(He's not going to go quietly)," one growled at the summoner, who glared back at him.

"(Well tough! He had his chance to come in peacefully,)" the summoner shot back. The four turned their gazes to the back of the laughing blond that had thrown his arm around that of the raven-haired girl, "(Just don't attack the girls. They're his 'precious people'.)"

"(...Fine!)" Spat the growling figure before throwing a finger in the summoner's face, "(I want it on the record that I don't like this!)"

"(Orders are orders,)" the summoner replied solemnly. His gaze went to the back of the blond's head.

* * *

**AN: Oh and I do so love a good cliffhanger. What did you think of the flashback? How will Naruto gain entrance to the city? Will the Shinobi attack before or after? And how can it be a snow day without snow?**

**To find out there is only one thing to do,**

**REVIEW!**


	8. VIII

**AN: The answer is because it's cold enough to have snow, but no snow falls.**

**AN 2: Check out the link on my Profile to a badass picture of Naruto and Kyu, star team of **_**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian**_**, courtesy of my buddy TenshinG.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**VIII**

* * *

As the three approached a bridge that would take them across the river to Camp Jupiter, Piper noticed a statue of a man with no arms. A giant cinderblock seemed to make up his lower half and was marked with the letters "TERMI NVS" carved into it. Both she and Thalia looked at it oddly, wondering the significance of it, while Naruto redirected himself to approached the statue.

"You are not welcome here, _Greeks_!" The statue said, springing to life with a baritone male voice. It's eyes focused on the blond and in a word filled with anger, it exclaimed, "_You!_"

"Yo!" the blond greeted cheerily, "Did you miss me, Terminus?"

"Miss _you_?" the statue, Terminus, scoffed, "You and your-your _insanity_? Your _speech_ nearly split this Camp in two!"

"Speech?" Thalia asked her boyfriend curiously. Naruto shrugged.

"Something I said like five years back," the blond said before turning his attention back to the armless statue, "You're not still mad are you?"

"Not still mad? How could I be mad? You only nearly _started a riot_!" Terminus snarled, making both of the demigoddesses look at the blond in confusion. Naruto merely shrugged again.

"I just thought it was weird is all," the blond said, "All that misplaced anger. Why should they have to keep the rage going?"

"It is strength that drives them, not anger!" Terminus snapped, "The Romans are stronger! We are _better_!"

"Maybe, maybe not," Naruto debated, "But let me ask you this, God of Boundaries, if you were better than the Greeks, you would've noticed my tail before me, wouldn't you?"

"What?" Thalia asked, turning around and looking for any sort of person, "How long have you known?"

"Since we left the tunnel," Naruto said as he looked intently at Terminus, "I was hoping you'd stop them but you never even noticed did you?"

"Noticed what?" Terminus demanded. Naruto leaned into the statue's face, a frown crossing his own. Raising his right hand, Naruto built chakra into his hand and snapped his fingers next to the statue's head. Terminus' eyes widened and he sputtered before exclaiming, "Bu-But that's impossible! It's inconceivable!"

"It's Shinobi," retorted the blond before turning around and stepping in front of Thalia, "First sneaking up on the Goddess of the Hunt, now breaking through boundaries. What's next, challenging the King for his throne?"

His words were meant with silence, his brows furrowing, "Thought that would bring you out. Unless...No...No you're not really waiting for me to be alone are you?"

There was not another answer and Naruto allowed a smirk to cross his face, "Alright...that's clever. I'll give you that. So who's out there this time?"

Once more he was met with silence. Reaching into his pocket, Naruto pulled out the pendant his father had given him. He turned around and put the pendant in Thalia's hand, "Take this and get into the city. Find the Praetors. Tell them that Camp is under attack."

"You've led enemies to the Camp!" Terminus shouted in rage.

"Not intentionally!" Naruto retorted before turning his attention back to Thalia, "Take Piper and go. Get the Legion ready."

"I told you that I'm not leaving you behind," Thalia growled. Naruto grinned and cupped her left cheek in his hand.

"You're not leaving me behind," he said, "You're getting back up."

Thalia looked into his eyes before frowning, "You infuriate me sometimes, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yeah, but you love it," replied the blond with a wink. Patting her cheek he turned back to face the way they had came, cracking his neck and saying, "Terminus I'd sound the alarm if I were you."

"...An exile defending the Camp! Preposterous! Outrageous!" The statue raged before his mouth turned upward in a smirk, "And yet...Just crazy enough to work. If there's one thing I despise more than rule-breakers, it's losing this Camp to invaders!_Ad arma!__Hostibus__in__porta! (At arms! Enemy at the gate!)_"

A siren broke out through the Camp beyond the wall, making Naruto grin, "You actually had an alarm installed?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Terminus explained before looking at the girls, "You two! _Greeks_! You have the blessing of Apollo, get beyond the wall!"

"Go!" Naruto said when Thalia and Piper turned to him. He rolled his shoulders and let a smile cross his face, "I've got to greet the people at the door."

Thalia and Piper stared at the teen before turning towards the walled camp. The younger demigoddess' hand was taken by the older one's, pulling her along as they crossed the bridge. The gates opened as they approached, Thalia lifted the pendant given to her as a girl around Piper's age stepped out with a golden spear in her hand. Golden armor covered her torso arms and legs, a small purple cape sticking out between her shoulder and her neck.

"We're here because-!" Thalia began only for the girl to point her spear at her.

"Terminus has explained the situation to us, my fellow Preator is preparing his Cohort for battle as we speak. We just await Terminus' final word on the intruders now," the girl said before looking around expectantly, "So, where is he?"

"Where is who?" Piper asked in confusion, "And what's with the siren?"

"The Camp is preparing for battle," the girl replied with a frown, "Who are you, _Greek_?"

"Piper McLean," Piper replied, her brows furrowing as something inside her told her to be wary of this girl, "And do I look Greek to you?"

"You _reek_ of it," the armored girl replied, lowering her spear slightly, and looked the demigoddesses up and down, "And your posture all but screams undisciplined."

"Yeah, this is nice and all but would you let her in already so I can go stop my boyfriend from getting himself killed?" Thalia asked impatiently. The Roman girl looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze.

"...Yes, I suppose you're right," she said after a moment, "I am Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion."

"Thalia," the daughter of Zeus replied shortly, "Now that the introductions are out of the way, can we get a move on?"

Their conversation was interrupted as the ground shook. A statue next to them came to life, eyes narrowed in fury and his mouth set in a deep infuriated scowl, before Terminus' voice echoed around the camp.

"**TRAITOR**! LEGACY OF BACCHUS, DESCENDANT OF THE GIANTS, CHOJI AKAMICHI: YOU ARE HEREBY DEEMED **TRAITOR** AND **ENEMY** OF CAMP JUPITER!"

The three girls turned their attention towards the entry, looking up and up and up until they laid their eyes on a portly man standing almost one hundred feet tall, wearing red clothes and plated armor on his arms, chest and thighs. He had long spiky brown hair and what looked like red swirls tattooed on his cheeks. A red headband with a metal plate – much like the one on Naruto's belt – was wrapped around his head, a strange marking engraved on it. He opened his mouth and said something in his deep voice that made Thalia's eyes widen, "You've been gone long enough, Naruto. It's _time_ to come home."

* * *

The second Thalia and Piper had fled over the bridge the shinobi had emerged from their hiding place. He faced against them and arched a brow, "This...seems like a strange combination. Never thought I'd see you three again. Maybe Kakashi and Yamato, but not you guys."

"It was a bit of a pain, tracking you down."

The blond demigod's gaze landed on the man with a tired look on his face, black hair pulled up into a ponytail that made his head look like a pineapple. He was dressed in the traditional attire for the Konohan Jonin, save for the sash around his waist. Naruto nodded at it.

"_You_ became one of the twelve guardians? You really are following in his footsteps, aren't you, Shikamaru?"

"Tch, only because my mother wouldn't stop nagging and saying how much of an honor it is to be asked," Shikamaru replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette. As he searched for a match, Naruto made a ram seal before he spoke.

"**Hi no Nagare no Jutsu (Fiery Stream Technique)**," he said as he inhaled slightly. Presenting his lips like he was going to whistle, a long stream of fire shot from his mouth, dissipating after it lit the edge of Shikamaru's cigarette. The two other shinobi remained tense while the large white dog growled in warning. Naruto rubbed at his throat as he cleared it, "Ugh, always tastes so nasty coming up."

"...So you can use fire techniques," Shikamaru mumbled, reaching up and removing his cigarette from his mouth.

"Not really a secret for a native of _Fire_ country," Naruto replied, his eyes narrowing, "You speak English rather well. How long have you been studying it?"

Shikamaru nonchalantly took another drag before he answered, "Ever since Team Kakashi came back...Without you."

"Sucks when you suck, doesn't it?"

"Enough of this bullshit!" exclaimed the wild looking man wearing a fur-lined leather jacket. A headband with the insignia that adorned Shikamaru's held his own wild brown hair back, and his bright red fang-like markings seemed faded slightly. Next to him was a large white dog, nearing the size of a horse. The man snarled and clenched his hands, "We outnumber you four-to-one, dumbass! Just give it up already!"

Canines were bared by the man's large dog before it spoke, "Come with us, or we will make you, Namikaze!"

"...That's new," Naruto muttered with a frown before he leaned towards Akamaru and asked, "Since when can you speak?"

"I've always been able to talk, Namikaze, you've just never heard me until now!" barked the giant white dog.

"Hm, guess you weren't trying hard enough," the blond mused. He turned his gaze to the feral man and smirked, "Itching for a rematch...Kibble Breath?"

"I'll pound you so hard into the dirt your ancestors will feel it, Naruto!" the man snarled, before pointing at the blond, "If you don't come with us peacefully, we've been ordered to bring you in by force!"

"Wow, that's never been said to me before, Kiba," Naruto sarcastically replied, "I mean, if Kakashi no Sharingan couldn't take me in, what makes you think you can?"

"Kakashi wasn't going all out!" Kiba snapped back, flexing his clawed hands and growling, "I don't have that handicap."

"A rabid dog on a leash," Naruto muttered with narrowed eyes before he turned his gaze to the quiet one, "_Et tu_, Choji?"

"Orders are orders, Naruto," shrugged the large man. As soon as he spoke, Terminus shifted his gaze to him, making the three shinobi and dog blink in surprise.

"_Tu! Uva puerum!_ _Quis enim es tu? (You! Grape boy! Who are you?)_" asked the head as he stared intently at the man.

Choji faltered in his words before he replied to the statue, "Akamichi Choji, Jonin of Konohagakure no Sato. How...How did you do that, Naruto?"

"What did it just say?" Kiba asked while Akamaru whimpered as an instinctual fight or flight instinct was activated.

"I think it was another language," Shikamaru mumbled as his eyes narrowed in thought. His gaze went to the surprised look on his onetime friend's face.

Naruto stared at Choji before he broke into a fox-like grin, "Wow...So there are more..."

"How did you do that, Naruto?!" Choji demanded, "How did you make it talk?"

"Oh I didn't do anything," the blond replied as he grinned, "Didn't your mother call you a grape when you were a kid?"

"How do you know that?"

"You were young and angry, you didn't always seem red, no...You seemed a deeper shade sometimes..." mused the blond with a grin on his face as his hand cupped his chin, "Purple almost..."

"Yeah, so? It's a condition that comes from my father's line," Choji said with a frown, "So what?"

"Oh...They never knew," Naruto said with his eyes widening, "All this time and he's never even thought about it."

"He's got us in an genjutsu!" Shikamaru interjected, breaking Naruto's train of thought. The three shinobi put their hands in the ram seal and exclaimed at the same time, "**Kai (Release)!**"

There was an audible static in noise before the alarm became noticeable, Kiba and Akamaru covering their ears crying out in pain as the sudden noise overwhelmed their senses. Choji and Shikamaru scowled, the thinner man's hands forming the rat seal. His shadow extended before stopping halfway, Naruto's eyebrow's rising in surprise.

"Ooh...Shouldn't have done that," Naruto said as he crossed his arms. Looking down at the ground, Naruto sucked in air between his teeth, "Oh, yeah...The Nara clan is officially on _his_ shit list...And so am I...I probably should've told him about you."

"What did you do?" Shikamaru asked, forming the ram seal and trying again only for the same result to occur. This time, however, the shadow was shorter in length.

"I'd stop if I were you," Naruto warned, "He's not big on sharing his domain...it's big enough as it is."

Shikamaru lowered his hands and took another drag on his cigarette in thought, "Someone...Someone else is controlling the shadows here, right?"

Naruto smiled secretively, "Oh yeah."

"So you've successfully taken me and Kiba out of the situation until I think of something and he adjusts to the sound," Replied the jonin with a frown. He turned to his friend and said, "Choji. Do it."

"You have one last chance, Naruto. Come with us willingly," Choji said with frown.

Naruto scoffed and subtly reached behind him into his pocket, pulling out his book of seals, while he replied, "You'll have to force me."

"Fine!" the large man snapped before his hands blurred through seals, "**Cho Baika no Jutsu (Super Multi-Size Technique)!**"

Shikamaru, Kiba and Akamaru all leapt away and out of sight as Choji started to grow. First by a foot, then two and then jumping up to twenty feet high. Yet, he still continued to grow! Finally, Naruto stumbled backwards as the super-sized one hundred foot tall Choji took a step forward, his book of seals flying out of his hand and landing near Terminus. The blond fell to his back with a grunt, glaring at the sky as he thought, _Someone is out to get me...And I have a good idea who she is._

"Giant!" Terminus exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah he is..." Naruto said, as he got up, "Fantastic, he's managed to master his clan's signature technique. And on top of that he's a legacy of Bacchus."

"How do you know?" Terminus demanded.

"I'm _very_ good at what I do!" Naruto snapped before looking back up at Choji and mumbling, "I'm gonna need help, Helios...Helios?"

While Naruto tried to contact his past life, Terminus scowled as he glared up at Choji before he linked up with the rest of his statues scattered throughout the Camp and exclaimed furiously:

"**TRAITOR**! LEGACY OF BACCHUS, DESCENDANT OF THE GIANTS, CHOJI AKAMICHI: YOU ARE HEREBY DEEMED **TRAITOR** AND **ENEMY** OF CAMP JUPITER!"

Ignoring the statue, Choji frowned, "You've been gone long enough, Naruto. It's _time_ to come home."

Naruto grinned widely at that proclamation and looked at the giant shinobi, "Hey guess what, Choji! You are _officially_ the fattest thing on the planet!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?" the giant bellowed, his face scrunching up in anger and turning a dark shade of red.

"YOU! ARE! _FAT_!" Naruto shouted. Choji's eyes turned red and his hand lifted up.

"I'm going to enjoy this, Naruto!" The giant exclaimed with a purpling face.

"_GOOD! GET ANGRY AND FIGHT ME LIKE THE FAT, STUPID IDIOT YOU ARE!_" Naruto exclaimed as he burst into golden flames, "_NOW, LET'S LIGHT IT UP!_"

Choji's foot lifted up and Naruto braced himself. As the giant foot came down, the golden demigod's hands went up. Terminus' eyes widened and he faltered before murmuring out, "That...That's impossible."

The descending sandaled foot of the giant shinobi rushed downwards, encasing Naruto and the statue of Terminus in shadow. The glowing teen's hands pressed against the sole of the giant's foot, creating a shockwave that caused nearby trees to fall. Naruto grunted as he was slowly brought to his knees. Fighting a Titan was one thing, holding the weight of a giant was a whole different ballgame. Clenching his jaw, the Heir of Helios fell to one knee, fighting against the weight of his onetime friend. He closed his eyes as he held up the foot.

_Did I miss something?_ A grin crossed the face of the reincarnated God when Helios' voice popped up, _Just took a brief nap. Zeus' girl does a fantastic job of telling stories, you know. Where's that spirit animal of yours?_

"_He's got another job at the moment. Man, it's great to hear your voice,_" Naruto said in exertion as he dropped to a crouch, "_Ready to go all out?_"

_Do you love Ramen? Let's kick some giant ass!_ The former God of the Sun said in excitement.

Naruto's golden eyes narrowed, the blue sun-like pupils shining radiantly along with the markings across his body as he released a roar and pushed up. Choji grunted and wobbled on his feet as Naruto slowly stood.

* * *

From where they were hiding, Shikamaru and Kiba were in awe while Akamaru had covered his head and began whimpering.

"That shouldn't be happening," Kiba whispered in worry, "That's impossible. Not even Tsunade-sama can hold off a Akamichi at full height!"

"Kakashi's reports weren't wrong," Shikamaru murmured, "I think...we might have bitten off more than we can chew."

"You think?!" Kiba hissed before looking back at the golden figure that was toppling the giant.

* * *

"Fifth Cohort!" Terminus' bust within the barracks of the Fifth Cohort, a good number of soldiers of all shapes and sizes stood at attention before a young man wearing the same armor as Reyna stepped forward, "The Exiled One has returned...And he is using the power of the Gods! He faces a Giant! Wait! It's toppled! He's tossed the Giant with his bare hands!"

The ground shook and the Cohort started to murmur before the golden armored Roman spoke, "Who is he? This Exiled One...Give us his name!"

"You of all know him best, Praetor," the Roman God said to the teen, "You tried to defend him from your father's wrath."

The Praetor's eyes widened and he abruptly turned before ordering, "Clear the way!"

The Cohort made a wide path, allowing the Praetor to clench his fists at his side. Wind built up in the barrack before the Praetor shot out at the speed of a bullet. His helmet was left behind, allowing the handsome face of a young man to be seen by the world had it been watching.

Thalia, Piper and Reyna were running back towards the battlefield when something shot by them. Reyna furrowed her brow, murmuring to herself in confusion, "What's gotten you all worked up, Jason?"

"What did you just say?" Thalia asked, looking at the dark haired girl.

"My fellow Praetor, Jason Grace," Reyna said, making Thalia's eyes widen as she stared at the girl, "Son of Jupiter."

* * *

Choji reared his hand back and brought it down, only for Naruto to catch it with ease. The golden boy adjusted his grip on the giant's pinky and pushed the hand down into the ground. Jumping up onto the hand, Naruto ran forward, jumping once again as the other hand tried to clap down on him. He climbed up the arm and onto the giant's shoulder, pulling his left fist back and driving it into the right cheek of his old childhood friend. Choji's head snapped to the side with a thunderous boom and his body followed.

Naruto landed on the ground next to his old friend's body, looking at Choji's dazed face almost apologetically. Of all the people who he didn't want to fight, Choji was among the top of the list. Innocent, sweet, powerful Choji with only one weakness that he exploited: his anger. Choji's rage was legendary, hell the man's family's rage was almost as legendary as his grandfather's.

His thoughts were broken by a whistling sound. Turning to face the new arrival, Naruto raise a hand to shield his face from the debris that shot up when a person landed in an earth splitting skid. Lowering his hand, Naruto narrowed his eyes at the dust before he grinned widely when he could see through it.

"_Well...Look who's decided to Grace me with his presence,_" joked the golden teen.

Stepping out of the dust stood a teen just a few inches shy of his height, broad shouldered and dressed in golden armor with a purple cape falling from his shoulders. His face was handsome and his features very similar to Naruto's own. Golden blond hair covered his head and electric blue eyes twinkled slightly in the light. It was a face that Naruto could never forget, not even if he tried.

It was the face of his girlfriend's 'deceased' little brother, Jason Grace.

"I've never heard that one before," Jason said before smiling widely, "You've certainly...gotten _shinier_ since we last met."

"_D'you like it?_" inquired the teen as he struck a pose, "_I've been thinking of getting a dimmer installed. You know, for those days when it's not too dark._"

"It suits you," Jason replied with a smirk, getting a fox-like grin from the older teen as he relaxed. He then looked at the large form groaning behind the glowing teen, "So...Tossing Giants becoming a regular thing for you?"

"_Well...Not all the time,_" Naruto said, leaning back against the giant stomach of his old friend, "_Just today._"

Jason hummed at his words, still looking at the giant before he looked at the glowing teen. The power he radiated, it had his senses screaming at him to avoid conflict with the man before him. It was like facing a God...suicide unless you were immortal, but even then...there was no guarantee you'd survive.

"_Move!_" cried the glowing teen as he shoved the younger blond out of the way from a descending hand. Choji grunted as he missed his opportunity at squishing the smaller warriors, rolling to his other side and getting back to his feet.

Naruto and Jason rolled out of their evasive maneuver, Jason's face becoming stern and serious while Naruto whistled as he stood, "_Wow! That's impressive. Even Atlas needed a millisecond to recover from my left hook._"

"You've fought Atlas?" Jason asked as he pulled out a gold coin and flipped it into the air, catching it as it descended. A golden spear appeared in his hand and Jason narrowed his eyes at the giant that was trying to relocate them.

"_Diana was in trouble, I was on a quest, I'll tell you about it later,_" he replied, "_Listen, this guy isn't the same as normal giants. I need your help on this, because we're not trying to kill him._"

"Not kill him? He's a friggin giant!" Jason hissed.

Naruto's gaze snapped to him and Jason reluctantly cowed, "_Yes. Not kill him. He's going to be a message._"

"Message to who?" asked the son of Jupiter. Naruto didn't reply, prompting Jason to take a deep breath before looking at the Giant. The younger blond looked to the golden teen, "What do we do if were not going to kill it?"

"_It's been a while since we've fought together, Jay_," Naruto said as he turned to the younger demigod, "_Remember our Wombo Combo?_"

"How do you forget something that stupidly named?" Jason asked his fellow blond. Naruto whacked his two fingers against the teen's head.

"_Blasphemy! It was genius then and genius now!_" Naruto admonished, looking at the standing giant shinobi, "_On my mark._"

"How is this not going to kill him?" Jason asked.

"_It won't, so just shut up and wait for my signal!_" Naruto said before vanishing in a flash of light. He reappeared on Choji's shoulder, whistling sharply to get the massive shinobi's attention.

"Found you!" Choji said as he started to reach for the blond.

"_Ah, ah, ah! Can't touch me!_" Naruto said, raising his left hand, "_**Solar Flare**_!"

Choji cried out in pain as Naruto's hand brightened to a blinding light, his eyes getting the full brunt of it. As Choji flailed around in blindness, Naruto vanished once more, teleporting to Jason's side.

"_Give me some wind, Thunder Boy!_" Naruto ordered as he raised his hands in front him and started to whip his hands through several hand seals. Jason pointed his spear up, gathering dark clouds overhead. The wind gathered around his spear until it looked like a small tornado.

"Naruto!" Choji roared, rubbing at his eyes, "You have to come home, Naruto!"

"_Not today,_" Naruto replied as he built chakra in his lungs and converted it with his natural affinity. Rearing his head back as he inhaled, Naruto cried out, "_Now Jason! __**Katon: **__**Gōenkyū (Fire Release: Great Blaze Ball)!**_"

Jason swung his spear just as Naruto's head flew forward, firing a giant ball of fire, the wind added speed and size to the attack until it was about ten feet in diameter. The technique hit the giant shinobi, sending him flying over the city-like Camp Jupiter. Choji screamed as he flew, his armor burning away and his body slowly but forcibly shrinking as his chakra tried to defend the host. The impact, almost a mile away near the Fields of Mars, made a large dome of fire.

Naruto waited until the dome faded, and then he turned around, narrowing his eyes at the shadow user that was glaring at him. Jason spun around and brandished his spear, getting ready to attack but was stayed by Naruto's extended hand. The golden teen crossed his arms over his chest before he spoke, "_Now what? I've just roasted your best friend, you can't access your clan's techniques and right now both Akamaru and Kiba are shaking in fear as their instincts tell them to run. You want to know why?_"

The son of Konoha's Jonin Commander's cheek twitched, but he remained silent. Naruto grinned as he answered, "_I'm just that awesome._"

"...Why won't you come home?" Shikamaru gritted out, "First Sasuke, now you. Why? WHY?!"

Naruto said nothing, merely powering down before stepping forward, his eyes narrowed. His hands gripped Shikamaru's jonin flak jacket and lifted the man up. Blue orbs with small suns looked into two coal colored eyes before Naruto bared his clenched teeth and said, "I. Am. Nothing. Like. Sasuke."

"Then come home." Shikamaru grunted back. The blond continued to glare at him, before pulling him down and whispering in his ear. Naruto whispered something to him that made Shikamaru's eyes widen before lifting him back up.

Naruto then said, "Now tell me what you really want to know."

The strategist and team leader swallowed before asking what was on his mind, "...Why can't I outsmart _you_?"

"You can," Naruto replied with a smirk before nodding behind him, "You just can't outmaneuver _them_."

Shikamaru looked over his oddly younger friend's head to see a bunch of teens of all ages standing behind the blond wearing golden armor, each of them pointing various sharp weapons in their direction. Naruto spoke again, earning Shikamaru's attention, "You see, for all your brains, for all your foresight, you just can't outsmart a battalion of Romans. Wanna know why?"

Not giving the teen a chance to answer, Naruto continued, "They've got the best _damn_ army on the planet."

* * *

**AN: Whoa, that was fun to write! I highly suggest playing **_**I Am The Doctor**_** while reading the interaction between Naruto and Shikamaru. Again, check out my profile to get a link to an awesome pic drawn by my pal, TenshinG. What happens next? Will Thalia flip out on Naruto? Will the shinobi be sent home like last time? Will I survive my second day of spring semester?**

**In order to find out, there's only one thing left to do!**

**REVIEW!**


	9. IX

**AN: I survived day two! Huzzah!**

**AN 2: I am giving a shout out to Engineer4Ever for the massive help on this fic. Check out his stories! All brilliantly written, plotted and the characters, oh the **_**characters**_**! Read his stories! READ THEM!**

**This chapter is for you my friend!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**IX**

* * *

Will Solace was worried. He had one job and he'd screwed it up! Not only was it a job, but one of the Big Three, the scariest one in his opinion, had given him a show of faith, a blessing to enter and leave the Thirteenth Cabin at his leisure. Though with how odd Bianca's illness became, he hardly had the time to keep an eye on Nico!

"You're sure you haven't seen him, Chiron?" Will asked, almost pleadingly, as he nervously stood at the entrance of Hades' Cabin. The centaur sighed and ran a hand down his face.

"Will, relax. Whatever has happened to Nico is out of your control, and Lord Hades can't harm you while Bianca's still in need of a caretaker," Chiron said to the teenager, "Go do what you've been assigned. I will focus on this matter and search for young Nico if it puts you at ease."

Will sighed and nodded, turning away and slowly closing the cabin door, "Thanks Chiron."

The blond teen groaned and put a hand over his face, sighing heavily before he went back to Bianca's room. Ranger's head lifted as he pushed the door open and went to his designated pale patient, lifting her arm and checking her for a faint pulse. Will shook his head and murmured, "Figures..."

While he tried to get more fluids in Bianca's veins, Will worried what his eldest brother would do to him when he found out that he had lost the younger charge.

* * *

While Will Solace was worrying about both Bianca's strange illness and Nico's absence and Naruto Uzumaki was fighting a Giant; Annabeth Chase was leading her quest once again through the Labyrinth. They had just left Alcatraz, failing to convince a Hundred-Handed One to accompany them after slaying his torturer, the horrifying Kampê, and prompting Annabeth to think about their conversation with Hera.

* * *

_"So why are you here again?" Percy asked as he, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson sat with the Queen of Olympus passing out a lunch at the table once covered with dust after the teens' stomach rumbled._

_"Percy, Percy, Percy," Hera tisked as she gave Grover a bowl of salad, "I'm here to help you."_

_"But how?" Annabeth pried, "How can you be here, I thought the Gods couldn't interfere on a quest?"_

_"Oh? What do you call what Apollo did over the winter?" the Queen of Olympus scoffed, "If you must know, every century for one quest I care deeply about, my husband will let me grant one wish."_

_"But why help us?" continued the daughter of Athena, "I thought you hated heroes."_

_"You have one spat with one demigod and it follows you forever, I swear," Hera sighed before looking at Grover, "Stop chewing on that napkin, dear. It's not good for you."_

_"Yes ma'am," the satyr said, spitting the bits in his mouth out._

_"But didn't you try to kill him?" Annabeth asked, "Like...A lot of times?"_

_"Water under the bridge," Hera dismissed, "And besides, I happen to be fond of many heroes...Jason for instance."_

_"The Argonaut right?" Percy asked. The Queen gave him a small smile._

_"Yes," Hera confirmed before passing him another sandwich, "There's another who's earned my attention though. Your friend, Naruto."_

_At their stunned stares, save for Tyson who was enjoying the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the Goddess continued, "You all seem so surprised by that. He's the son of a God, yes, but a child of matrimony. A sire of a proper relationship between God and Mortal."_

_"Wait a second," Annabeth interjected, "Naruto's dad...Apollo...He married someone? Apollo?"_

_"I was as in just as much disbelief as you were when I heard that," Hera said, "Eight years ago, Apollo waking up from a prophetic trance with a loud exuberant cry. I had thought he found a new challenge. Imagine my surprise when he returned that evening with a tale of his new son, fifteen years old, saving a city from a delusional gravity manipulating mortal."_

_"...He did what?" Percy asked._

_Grover snorted and stuck a piece of lettuce in his mouth, "Figures. Leaving the best part out of a story, that screams Naruto."_

_"Yes, and his name was so strange," Hera commented thoughtfully, "It was strange enough to earn many of the Gods' attention, my own included. I watched him as he learned about the new world he was brought to, how quickly he adapted to the strange machines and tools used by mortals today, but then there was one significant moment that really grabbed my attention."_

_"What happened?" Tyson asked curiously as he wiped his hands on a napkin. Like the others gathered around the table, he was sucked into the story, curious about the kind blond that gave him challenges in the forge._

_"He found a girl on her own in California," Hera said while looking at a surprised Annabeth, "A daughter of Athena, in fact. A young girl he treated like a sister, who he cared for and protected. The compassion, the care oh...the familial bond. It warmed my heart to see a Hero like that. Even Hestia showed more interest in him than any Hero that had come before."_

_"Then why are you helping me instead of him?" Annabeth asked with a frown._

_"You were his first anchor. You were the first demigod he had met, and in someway, shape or form, you were family, the first family he could be with here. You gave him a reason to stay and not try to return to the Hidden Lands," Hera smiled as she looked at the girl, "And with that reason, he had become what he is today: one of the greatest Heroes of this time. All because of one young girl and the bond they made."_

_"Why am I helping you, Annabeth Chase?" the Queen continued, "Not because I prefer you over him, or he doesn't need it, because Naruto would need all the help in the world for his quest. No, I am helping you because he would want me to."_

_The group sat once again in stunned silence, the sandwich in Tyson's hand falling to his plate from his lax grip due to awe. Percy sat noticeably straighter his green eyes twinkling in thought. What those thoughts were, Annabeth didn't know, but she knew that for all she wanted to refute Hera's reason to help, she couldn't. Naruto would choose her safety over his any day of the week, month, or year. It was his fault, his Fatal Flaw; He was too selfless. He'd gladly give his life if it meant the safety of others would be assured, putting the world on his shoulders and never asking anyone else to do the same._

_"Oh, but he could be so much better," Hera sighed, breaking Annabeth's thoughts._

_"What do you mean?" Percy asked curiously._

_"Naruto Uzumaki, the Son of Apollo...Think about it," Hera said with a bit of disappointment, "Eventually he'll become far too arrogant, too cocky."_

_Annabeth's head snapped up and she glared at the Queen, "Naruto isn't like that!"_

_"Not now, no, but perhaps in time," Hera said before scoffing, "He's already inherited his father's more often than not poor choice in women. Hecate would be a better option for him. Perhaps even Tyche, Order knows she's liked the boy since he was young."_

_"He and Thalia deserve to be together!" Annabeth argued, her annoyance rising. It was like Hera was purposely trying her patience by pointing out things that weren't there. The daughter of Athena continued hotly, "Both of them were wrongly punished for something out of their control!"_

_"Zeus had broken his oath on the Styx," Hera countered with a frown, "Hades was more than welcome to enact punishment, especially after what had happened to his children's mother."_

_"Then why did he kill Naruto if he wasn't part of that?" questioned the blonde with tears burning at her eyes, restraining herself from screaming out what she really wanted to say; 'Why did he take my big brother away from me!?'_

_She was nearly crying. Crying in front of Percy, Grover, and Tyson was one thing, crying in front of Hera of all things was definitely out of the question! But it was the one question that had bothered her for so long, haunted her since she was a child. Why her brother? Why did Naruto have to leave? Annabeth clenched tightly onto her jeans to keep her composure, her jaw trembling as Hera stared at her._

_"Naruto made his choice, Annabeth," The Queen said, "A choice that only one Olympian has come close to ever making: He chose your life over his."_

_Annabeth's hands clenched even tighter while she struggled to keep herself composed. Before she could ask anything else, Hera continued, "But enough about Apollo's child, let's get back on track. I am here to help you and to do so I will grant you one wish."_

_Annabeth took a few deep breaths, pushing back her frustration before putting her mind to the quest at hand. What was their current situation? They were trapped in an ever-changing Labyrinth to find its creator. However, there was also the possibility of more monsters being found in the Labyrinth, so maybe a way to defeat them._

_"Before you make your wish, I have some advice to give you," Hera spoke once more, "You seek Daedalus, this Labyrinth's creator. Finding Daedalus isn't going to be as easy as stumbling across him by chance. My advice is to go to my son Hephaestus, he'll be more than happy to help you discover what had happened to the inventor."_

_"But how do we get there?" Annabeth asked before nodding in confirmation, "That's what I wish for, a way to navigate the Labyrinth."_

_Hera gained a look of disappointment as she looked at Annabeth, "I see. Unfortunately, you have wished for something you already have."_

* * *

Annabeth growled, "Something we already have. What was she talking about?"

"Let it go, she was probably just trying to throw you off your game," Percy suggested before he walked into a stopped Tyson, "Ow. Tyson, what's the hold up?"

"Not alone," the cyclops mumbled with a shiver, "Someone watching us."

Grover stopped and sniffed before he shivered as well, "He's right. Someone is watching us."

"_Gro-o-ver~!...T-y-son~! It is I...The, uh... The Ghoooooost King!_" A disembodied voice echoed around them, "_And I have come for your souls!_"

As Tyson and Grover became even more unnerved, Percy snickered at the ghostly taunt while Annabeth's brow furrowed. The daughter of Athena muttered, "I know that voice."

"_Feeeeeaaarr meeeee!_" the voice continued before it broke into snickers.

"Alright, come out Nico," Annabeth said with a frown on her face, "You're scaring Tyson."

Out of the shadows stepped a familiar olive skinned eleven-year-old. Nico di Angelo had a smile on his face as he walked up to the group, dark eyes twinkling in the mischievous manner that Naruto often inspired. He wore a plain green shirt and jeans with a chain belt around his waist. Protecting him from the elements was a faded aviator's jacket, and slung over his shoulders was a decently sized sword about three feet in length, just shy of touching the ground from the eleven-year-old's height.

"You should've seen the look on your face," sniggered out the boy to the relieved Tyson and the annoyed Grover.

"Shouldn't you be at Camp taking care of Bianca?" Grover inquired. Nico's smile fell into a frown.

"That's why I'm here," Nico retorted, "My sister isn't getting better and I'm not going to sit around waiting for her to die while I could do something. Besides, Bianca is in good hands with Will."

"So you want to join us?" Annabeth pieced together, "To help your sister?"

"I might find a way to save Bianca," Nico said determinedly, "She's my most precious person."

"'Strength comes from protecting your precious people,'" Annabeth quoted with a small smile, getting a grin from the younger boy. She hummed before saying, "Well I guess having another child of the Big Three would be a great help."

"I don't know," Percy uneasily said as he looked to Annabeth, "Naruto would kill us if he got hurt."

"You mean he might kill _you_," Annabeth teased getting a mocking laugh from the son of Poseidon. Grover patted his friend on the shoulder in understanding while Tyson tilted his head in confusion.

"I can take care of myself," Nico said with a frown. To demonstrate, he turned around and raised his hand in the direction of the Labyrinth, closing his eyes and forcing the ground to rise up. Opening his eyes, Nico then made the lifted slab float over to him with a gesture. As the slab stood in front of him, Nico unsheathed his slate colored blade and slashed through the earth several times. He sheathed his sword and the raised stone crumbled.

"Geokinesis and swordsmanship," Annabeth summed up, "As well as that...invisibility?"

"Shadow-walking," Nico corrected as he gave a small smug grin to Percy, "Dad taught me."

"When did he...last winter," Percy concluded before crossing his arms as he scrutinized the younger boy, "Well at least you can swing your sword, but so can I. Can you _use_ it though?"

"Bianca and I were trained by one of, if not, the best swordswoman in the Underworld," the son of Hades said with a challenging gleam in his eye.

"Training and surviving are two entirely different things," Percy countered.

"It's the same thing if you trained like we did," deadpanned the younger di Angelo. He then shuddered as he remembered a cackling redheaded woman swinging a sword down at him, forcing him to go on the defensive. That training was not something he wanted to go through again.

"Who trained you?" Grover asked curiously.

"Naruto's mom, Kushina Uzumaki," Nico replied nonchalantly. You could hear a pin drop after the son of Hades' spoke. Annabeth was the first to speak, pouncing after she had recovered from her shock.

"You met Naruto's mom?!" exclaimed the blonde daughter of Athena with a hint of jealousy to her voice. After he returned and Annabeth had asked him, Naruto had said he'd met her once but left it at that. Few knew more about his mother, Annabeth only knew his mother's name and what she looked like from a vague description, redheaded and beautiful. Annabeth then got rolling on the questions, "What's she like? Why was she in the Underworld? Why was she training you? How was she training you?"

"Wow, you are worse than a journalist," Nico mumbled before he rubbed his arm, "Well, yeah. She's my...stepmother's handmaiden -er, bodyguard; it was hard _not_ to meet Kushina."

"But what is she _like_?" Annabeth pressed, "Is she as nice as Naruto said she was?"

"Kushina is the nicest woman I've ever met," Nico answered with a grin, "I'll tell you more about her if I can come along..."

"Sure," Annabeth agreed, "It's not like I'm going to send you back through the Labyrinth on your own. It's a miracle you even found us in the first place."

"Yeah...Miracle..." Percy repeated quietly as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Not really," Nico dissuaded the teen's thoughts, "I can sort of...become the shadows. I see what they see. Different from Naruto's teleporting."

"How is that different from Naruto's teleporting?" Annabeth asked, "I thought he just jumped from place to place."

"Kind of...It's...It's like he can vanish into thin air and in milliseconds reappear where he wants to," Nico struggled to explain, "I don't know the technicalities, but he has a further range than Bianca or I do. Even our Dad can't move as quickly through the shadows."

"That might be due to old age, though," Percy joked, getting a small bout of laughter from the group.

Annabeth smiled at Nico and said, "All right, let's get a move on then. Bianca won't wait forever and neither will Hephaestus."

"Hephaestus, huh?" Nico mused, "Never met him. He made Kushina's sword after a request from Persephone. Dad made mine and Bianca's."

"Bianca has a sword?" Percy asked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Seaweed Brain, she has to defend herself somehow, and Nico even said that Kushina had trained both of them."

"Well excuse me for not being a year rounder," grumbled the son of Poseidon, "How am I supposed to know?"

"There's nothing against the occasional visit, Percy," Grover mock chided, "How are _we_ supposed to be sure that you're okay?"

"You're a riot."

"I've been taking lessons," Grover replied proudly, "Juniper likes funny guys."

While Percy and Grover, and the unintentionally eavesdropping Tyson, talked about Grover's girlfriend like how they met and how they hooked up, Annabeth grilled Nico for information on Naruto's mother.

"Kushina Uzumaki is the nicest woman outside of battle," Nico said as he walked next to the blonde. He shuddered in fear as he continued, "Training though...You trained with Naruto, right?"

Annabeth gave him a sympathetic glance, "That bad?"

"Worse," Nico muttered, getting Annabeth to wince. She hadn't known that there was someone more intense than Naruto when it came to training. The son of Hades continued, "We were forced to run the length of the Styx twice. She managed to stick bones to our back and sicked Cerberus on us."

"How did you survive?" asked the daughter of Athena.

"Running. A lot of running," Nico answered. He shook off the memories and said, "Other than that, Kushina was very nice. A few conversations with Apollo over the phone that Bianca and I overheard aside, I don't think she gets mad that easily."

"What were she and Apollo arguing about?" Annabeth inquired.

"I don't think they were arguing," said the boy with a shrug, "According to Bianca, she was just accusing him of 'tainting her precious baby boy', whatever that meant."

"Really?" Annabeth probed as a small smirk crossed her face, "What else?"

"She kept warning me to stay away from alcohol and drugs for some reason other than the usual 'Drugs are Bad, Stay in School' thing," Nico said, before grinning, "There's a really good story she told me about Naruto though. Did you know he once led a revolt?"

"No way!" exclaimed the girl with a frown, "Why wouldn't he tell me that?"

"It is kind of graphic for a kid who already has to deal with monsters chasing them," Nico pointed out, getting a look of surprise from Annabeth, "What? Kushina told me about how you two met."

"I guess Naruto must've told her," Annabeth mumbled.

"But anyway, Naruto and his team were called out to escort a bridge builder to a small village called Nami," Nico began, enthralling the daughter of Athena with the story. Percy, Tyson and Grover were sucked in as well, silently listening in as the son of Hades spoke. Annabeth interjected a lot, asking questions about details Nico wasn't a hundred percent sure of, such as how two fully grown men hid in a puddle, or how a rabbit that was out of its natural habitat retain a snow-white fur, or even how a blade nearly six feet in length that was stopped by a blade five inches long.

The group shared a laugh when Nico retold how Naruto freaked out upon discovering he had been stabbed with a poisonous blade, and then making it worse by impaling his hand with his kunai. As he talked about their tree climbing exercise, the subject of Sasuke came up, making Grover and Percy share a glance before the son of Poseidon interrupted, "Who is Sass-kay?"

"_Sasuke_," Nico corrected, "Was Naruto's best friend, before he went crazy and tried to kill him."

Annabeth, Percy and Grover stiffened before looking at one another. Nico continued to walk and talk, Tyson following him while engrossed in the story, leaving the three behind. Grover leaned forward and asked, "You don't think that...?"

"He did say Lucky Boy was almost impaled through the heart by the psychopathic friend," Percy said as he recalled the mockery of a story Naruto had told last winter.

"But even with Apollo's blessing, which he didn't even know about until he was fifteen," Annabeth pointed out, "Naruto couldn't have survived a punctured lung. Not without some serious medical treatment."

"Kyu could've helped," Grover suggested, "He was a spirit of nature after all, and some spirits are known to be well trained in the arts of healing."

"But Kyu was a curse before he became a weapon," Percy argued, "Naruto was one of those...Jin...Jin-chiki things."

"_Jinchuriki_," Grover corrected.

"What did you say?" Annabeth asked as her eyes widened. Grover and Percy looked at each other before back at her as she continued, "Jinchuriki? As in, 'Power of Human Sacrifice'?"

"You learned Japanese didn't you?" Grover asked.

"It's my third language," nodded a proud Annabeth.

"...I can barely handle English and you learned Japanese?" Percy asked incredulously. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Japanese to Greek translation books, Seaweed Brain," replied the blonde as though it were obvious, "You'd be surprised how easy learning things can be once you translate it to Greek."

"...Shut up, Wise Girl," Percy mumbled as he looked away, recalling Naruto saying something similar as he forced Percy to study history.

"Anyway, it's an old word long forgotten, how do you two know it?" Annabeth asked. Grover and Percy shared another nervous glance, this one noticed by Annabeth and making her gape at them, "No. No, he didn't! He told you about his past on the Quest for Artemis, didn't he?!"

"Yes/No! I mean No/Yes!" the two friends replied before glaring at each other, "Would it kill you for once in your life to work with me?"

"...You two have been together for far too long," Annabeth commented before starting to rant, "I can't believe he told you two! I thought he hated you Percy!"

"Same here," answered the boy honestly, "I think if it weren't for Thalia, we'd have never gotten the truth out of him."

"But he told you! You! Why hasn't he said anything to me yet?!" Annabeth demanded, feeling slightly hurt.

"Maybe there's a reason he hasn't told you yet," Grover quickly defended the blond, "Maybe he thinks by keeping you in the dark he's keeping you safe."

"It sounds like him," Percy admitted, thinking back to what Apollo said to him on the train, "I mean, he picked on me to get me to wake up and take things seriously."

"Which you still haven't done," Grover added.

"Who's the demigod again?" Percy playfully threatened.

"Last I checked you were, and yet I still managed to make you walk into a tree," retorted the satyr with a smug grin.

"Touché," Percy stated before putting a hand on the lightly smiling Annabeth's shoulder and said, "Listen, Naruto has the most messed up logic on the planet. You of all people should know that by now. Whatever his reason for not telling you, it's most likely for your benefit."

"You really think so?" Annabeth asked.

"Yep," Percy lied slightly. He wasn't really sure about that, though, because there was still a (very slim) possibility that Naruto just forgot to bring his 'Little Sis' up to speed. For now, he'll just try to keep Annabeth's mind on the quest and keep her from feeling too low or doubting herself.

"...Thanks Percy," the daughter of Athena said with that same smile that made Percy's heart skip a beat. The dark haired teen just smiled back, content with making his crush feel better.

"Hey, are you guys coming or what?!" Nico called from a rather impressive distance ahead. The three older quest takers quickly rejoined the two younger ones, Nico giving them odd looks upon their arrival, "What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing important," Annabeth replied, "What did we miss?"

"Team made it to wave Naruto met Haku," Tyson summed up with a smile, "Go on, Nico. Tell more."

"Yeah, yeah," Nico waved off the excited cyclops' urging, "Apparently Naruto was out all the next night training, oversleeping and missing his team leave for the bridge. He was gone just long enough to hear his host Tsunami, the bridge builder's daughter, release a threatening yell to bite her own tongue off after he stumbled across a cut up boar."

"Is that possible?" Percy asked. Annabeth shuddered before nodding, prompting the others to groan in disgust at the mental image.

"Not only possible, but life threatening," Nico answered nonchalantly, "But anyway, Naruto uses his duplication thing–"

"**Kage Bunshin**," Annabeth said, remembering the technique that had more often than not saved their hides.

"Yeah, that," Nico said, "He used the **Kage Bunshin** and took out two mercenaries that were hired to capture the bridge builder's family. He gave an inspiring speech to the builder's grandson, which led to the kid running around the village begging others to rise up against Gato."

Nico then grinned, "The best part is what came afterwards. Apparently, after Naruto's team left, the village named the bridge after him. They called it the Naruto Ouhashi, in honor of their hero."

"The Great Naruto Bridge," Annabeth translated loosely in awe and a bit of jealousy.

"No way," Grover said in disbelief, "How come Naruto didn't tell us about this?"

"I don't think he knew," Nico said, "Kushina told me she had discovered it by accident while exploring the Underworld. She met a man she never expected in a million years to be down there."

"What was the man's name?" Percy asked out of curiosity.

Nico shrugged before he gave his answer, "I dunno. All she kept calling him was Ero-Sennin or Perverted Toad."

The five continued to walk until they came across another exit. As they left the Labyrinth for the second time on their quest, the world around them had changed, not that they knew it. Days had passed during Nico's tale rather than minutes. And in the past few days, many things had happened for the other quest takers, including the reveal of a secret regrettably kept from someone who deserved to know it.

* * *

**AN: So the Great and Gallant Jiraiya is in the Underworld, is he? How did he get there? Will he play a larger part in the story? What happened over the past few days with Naruto and Thalia? Will I ever stop with these nonsensical questions?**

**To find out there is but one thing left to do,**

**REVIEW!**


	10. X

**AN: Do I really have to answer that question?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**X**

* * *

"This isn't over, Namikaze!" snarled Kiba as he, a whimpering and muzzled Akamaru as well as a frowning Shikamaru were marched into the Camp. Along with the bronze chains, chakra-restraining tags were placed along their body, a good-sized amount of tags were given to small squad sent to retrieve Choji alive under Jason's order.

"It's _Uzumaki_," Naruto corrected as he shoved the bound Kiba forward, "Now keep moving Kibble-Breath."

The members of the Fifth Cohort who had been around when Naruto was at Jupiter five years ago were all delighted to see their former member, including the hyperactive Kool-Aid addict that was their senior centurion, Dakota. Though, Dakota was saddened to learn it was one of his kin that had threatened the camp. He had personally volunteered to go and retrieve Choji from where he had landed.

At the sound of armor clanking upon becoming straight and disciplined, Naruto turned to see more familiar faces, one in particular causing his face to split into a wide grin.

"Rey-chan!" he exclaimed joyfully, abandoning his post in escorting the new prisoners to greet the girl. Scowls from the other ready cohorts showed their disapproval at the informal greeting, while others (mostly those from the Fifth) fought back laughter at the normally stoic girl giving a small smile to the blond.

"Naruto Uzumaki," She greeted before clearing her throat and giving him an expectant look. Jason slipped over to her side, his smile dimming to a serious brood that looked almost forced.

Naruto sheepishly chuckled before standing at attention, crossing his right arm over his chest with a fist on his left pectoral. He bowed forward slightly as he spoke, "Praetors of Camp Jupiter, thank you for the timely assist and housing my company."

"Rise and be welcomed," Jason and Reyna said together. Naruto gave them another smile before his eyes landed on Thalia, who was staring at the other blond in the small group.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto then said, "Reyna, if you don't mind...I need to borrow Jason for a little bit."

"I suppose I can allow it," Reyna replied with a hint of disappointment, "I'll make sure the prisoners are properly secured."

"Alive as well," Jason said with a frown, "I still don't understand your reasoning, Naruto."

"I'll explain it later," the older blond said as Reyna left to ensure the prisoners would be properly taken care of...short of death. Naruto looked at other members of the Legion, before looking back to Jason and asking, "Think you can get them to leave us alone for like...five, ten minutes?"

"I am a Praetor," Jason reminded the blond.

"Psh, since when?" jokingly replied the older teen. Jason rolled his eyes before issuing an order to return to Camp, while Naruto went to Thalia and Piper.

"Naruto...I...Is...Is that?" Thalia was at a loss for words as she watched the blond teen issue commands. Above her the sky darkened slowly.

"It is," confirmed the older blond before he stepped to the side as Jason returned, "Jason Grace, Praetor of Camp Jupiter. Meet my companions, first, Piper McLean."

"Hello," Jason greeted with an offered hand and a smile. As Piper took his hand, Jason stared into her kaleidoscopic eyes in awe for a brief moment, snapping out of it when she spoke.

"Nice to meet you," Piper returned with her own grin before Naruto cleared his throat.

The two younger teens released each other's hands and looked to the blond. Naruto then looked to the raven-haired girl, her blue eyes misting slightly and biting her lip like she wanted to keep from crying. Jason followed Naruto gaze and when his eyes locked with the older girl's, he felt something akin to familiarity. As a tear rolled down the raven-haired girl's cheek, Jason felt the urge to make her smile as the clouds gathered overhead.

"Jason, I promised you a long time ago that I would reunite you with your sister," Naruto began, moving to stand behind Jason and looking at the girl as rain began to fall, "Jason, meet Thalia Grace, the Daughter of Zeus. Thalia-chan...Say hello to your little brother, Jason Grace, the Son of Jupiter."

Jason and Thalia stared at each other for a moment before one of them moved. Jason nearly fell over when Thalia bowled into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly, and tears falling down her cheeks. Jason failed to speak as Thalia cried while hugging him and repeated two words, "You're real."

"Y-Yeah..." Jason finally managed to say as he hugged her back, tears of his own starting to form as he choked out, "I-I'm real."

Naruto and Piper watched the two siblings interact, the younger demigoddess moving to stand to the blond's side in an effort to become shielded from falling water. She looked up at the older teen, nudging him in the side and getting his attention, "Did you really promise him to reunite him with his sister?"

Naruto didn't reply for a moment, his smile dying and his eyes becoming sad, "Yeah."

"Wow...You should work for Hallmark," Piper commented with a small smile. Naruto's mouth twitched upwards at the joke. Unnoticed in the rain, his sunny sky blue eyes remained a depressed shade of blue as he watched the two children of the woman named Grace reunite.

Thalia's closed eyes opened once more and locked with her boyfriend's through the rain. A second passed and Naruto prepared himself as he saw the connections start to be made. Her brow furrowed in confusion before narrowing in anger. Forcing herself out of Jason's grasp, Thalia pushed past with a glare meeting Naruto's eyes.

"You son of a bitch," she hissed as she approached him. There was a boom of thunder and Thalia gave her boyfriend an accusing finger, "You knew. You _knew_ and you didn't tell me!"

Naruto said nothing, his sad smile matching the emotions in his eyes. Thalia continued to glare at him before storming off in the other direction without another word being said. Jason found himself once more searching for words, looking between his leaving sister and his friend. Naruto nodded once, a silent instruction sending the younger blond after his furious older sister.

"W-What just happened?" Piper asked, looking up at Naruto, "Is...Is she _mad_ at you?"

"Yeah..." Naruto sighed out, wiping water from his eyes, "Furious if I'm reading the wind speed right."

"But...she didn't hit you?"

"Nope."

"Doesn't she normally?"

"Yep."

"...Is that bad?"

"For you? No. For me?" Naruto left the question be unanswered and after a moment he turned towards the Camp, "Come on. Let's go talk to Rey-chan."

"Rey-_chan_? What? Is she an ex-girlfriend or something?" Piper asked, making note of the suffix he used.

"Nope," Naruto said as they walked away from the storm.

* * *

"Thalia! Thalia, wait up!" Jason called out to his still storming away sister, clouds gathering above her as she marched. He groaned before shooting ahead in a burst of speed, stopping in front of her as he doubles over and pants, "Just...Just give me a second." Recovering his breath from the forced application of the wind rather than the proper method he had been using, Jason asked as he stood upright, "What did Naruto do?"

"What did he do? He...He fucking lied to my face!" Thalia had tears of rage, depression and joy being held back by sheer will, "He knew you were alive and kept me in the dark! Me! I thought we were past all that, but he is still keeping secrets from me!"

"So? Everyone's got secrets," Jason replied in confusion.

"You don't keep your girlfriend's brother still being alive a secret, Jason!" Thalia shouted, causing a bolt of lightning to crash down nearby.

Jason's mouth moved but no words came out. Finally, he managed a surprised, "G-Girlfriend?"

"Not for much longer!" exploded the raven-haired demigoddess along with a boom of thunder.

"Well...I-I don't know how to reply to that," admitted the Praetor, "But this can't be how you want to end it!"

"You'd be surprised!" retorted Thalia as the rain started to pour down harshly, reflecting her emotions. Jason was starting to have trouble determining which droplets were tears and which were from the sky.

"There has to be a reason why he kept it from you!" Jason said, nearly shouting, as the wind picked up. He could suppose this was why Lupa would send him outside when he would have temper tantrums.

"I had a right to know that my little brother was still alive!"

"You did!" agreed the younger Grace, "You had every right to know! But! BUT! Naruto had a reason! He always has a reason for what he does!"

"So what? My feelings don't matter?" Thalia raged, "Just his bullshit 'reason'?"

"He brought you along when he knew he'd end up here, right?" Jason asked, making Thalia blink, "What does that tell you? He promised to reunite me with my sister and look what he did! Sure it took some time, but kept his promise to me!"

"I still had a right to know!" Thalia argued.

"Maybe something was keeping him from telling you!" Jason retorted, "Naruto wouldn't keep this from you unless something made him do so! Give him a chance to explain himself and he will!"

"What do you know?!" the older sister demanded.

"I know that he missed you!" Jason said, making her stare at him in disbelief. The blond pressed on, "Yeah...All he talked about was you and his sister. She's around my age apparently and her name was...Annabelle?"

"Anna_beth_," Thalia corrected getting Jason to nod.

"Okay, Annabeth," amended the blond, "The point is he wouldn't shut up about you! He was always smiling when he talked about you two. I was also curious what you were like, so he told me things. Like how you much you loved to practice with your control over lightning...Especially on him since he doesn't like it."

Thalia smirked as she recalled the small shocks she used to give the blond as they traveled. The way he would yelp and jump behind Annabeth while Luke would tease the older boy, who'd then retaliate with a wedgie or noogie or something along those lines.

"And then the way you'd...you two would...Well, talk," Jason said while shuffling where he stood as the rain slowed, "The way you'd speculate over what would come after you next...when he talked about you, he just seemed so happy, he spoke with such affection, you know."

Thalia's smirk fell into a soft smile. More than once she and Naruto would lie under the stars looking up, wondering how their fathers acted, what the safe place for demigods was. Sharing a few nights alone on watch for monsters, the way she'd wake up in his embrace after some long nights. More recent events entered her mind; fighting Ladon along with Zoë, their dance at Christmas, the more embarrassing conclusions to their training sessions, and some of their date nights.

"Then he'd go on about how you always had this smirk, how your nose scrunched up when you'd get mad, how you woke up more than once lying on his shoulder," Jason rambled before pointing at his now scowling sister, "That's the scrunched up...oh."

"I think I get the point," the slightly embarrassed girl said before looking up at the sky, "I hate losing control like that."

"You just needed to calm down," Jason corrected as he held his hand out. Wind gathered in it and started to form a sphere, "Once you're calm, you can do anything."

"He helped you gain control, too," an impressed Thalia mused before raising a fist and having lightning spark around it, "Lightning's way more fun, though."

"You can fly with wind," Jason countered with a smirk.

Thalia's own grin fell slightly, "Yeah...Flying..."

"What? Can't fly yet?" Jason started to tease before he remembered something and he winced, "Right...Acrophobia. You know, I've been wondering how is that even possible, I mean our father is-?"

"Shut up, Jason!" Thalia said with a small frown that could be mistaken for a pout.

Jason grinned, "You're the daughter of Zeus, but afraid of heights?"

"I will shock you," Thalia warned.

"It wouldn't hurt me," deadpanned the younger Grace, earning a glare from his sister.

"I'm sorry, for a second I mistook you for the _other_ blond," Thalia snarked.

The two siblings stood across from one another, eyes narrowed challengingly at the other before they grinned. They hugged again and after a minute, Jason asked in a hopeful tone, "So...Gonna go forgive Naruto, yet?"

"No," Thalia replied with a frown before asking, "Can we talk about something else?"

"I guess," Jason said in a slightly defeated tone before asking, "So...how was life as a tree?"

* * *

"They refuse to tell us anything," Reyna said with a scowl as she, Naruto and Piper stood outside of a holding cell. Naruto was leaning against the side of the bars, glaring into the cell at the meditating Shikamaru. The blond's eyes narrowed in thought.

"Do you really have to lock the dog up with a muzzle?" Piper asked as she looked at the giant white dog.

"Normally, no," Naruto said, breaking himself from his musings, "But he's learned to speak. One less annoyance."

"Fuck you, Naruto!" Kiba snarled as he glared down at his shackled hands and the tags attached to it.

"Mm, while many may pay to see it, I'm going to have to pass on the request," Naruto replied before returning his gaze to Shikamaru, "...You can't escape. Our...leaders won't allow it."

"A girl in shiny armor and another pretty boy–!" Kiba was cut off by Shikamaru's voice.

"They're not who he's talking about," replied the meditating teen as his coal eyes looked up and met two sun-filled sapphire orbs, "Something far more powerful is at play here."

"Understatement of the millennia," Naruto mumbled. Looking back to Reyna, the blond said, "They're not going to talk."

"How can you be sure?" the Praetor asked.

"The only way that we would get anything is if they told us willingly," replied the blond before an idea struck him. Looking at Piper, Naruto said, "Piper, come here."

"Why?" she asked.

"I got an idea," the blond replied, "Ask the mutt what their plan is."

"What?" Both Piper and Reyna chorused.

"Fuck you Naruto!"

"We've been over this," Naruto said to the shinobi before looking back at Piper, "In the nicest, sweetest and most polite manner, ask him what their plan is."

"Why should I?" Piper inquired as she stepped closer to the cell.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Because then you would be helpful, I might get an idea as to who your mother is, would you like me to continue?"

"...Fine," agreed the girl before looking at the wild looking man. Smiling in a sincerely sweet smile, Piper asked Kiba, "What is your plan?"

"Bust out as soon as possible, subdue Naruto and drag his traitorous ass back to Konoha for trial and to retrieve a blood sample so that the Alliance can use his parent's notes in the Fourth Shinobi War," Kiba answered. Shikamaru looked at him in pure shock while Akamaru growled something in the canine language.

"Yeah, figured as much," Naruto sighed out while Kiba rubbed his head. Looking at Piper, Naruto grinned, "Congrats are in order, your mom is the ultimate manipulator, the Lady of Doves and the fairest of them all. First three guesses don't count."

As Piper furrowed her brow in confusion, Shikamaru stood and pulled Kiba away from the bars. Glaring at Naruto, the squad leader asked, "How did she do that?"

"Keebs is a pervert, he couldn't resist her girlish charms," Naruto replied as he gently pulled Piper away from the cell and stood in front of her, "She might be able to ensnare you, too."

"Bullshit," snapped Shikamaru, "What sort of kekkei genkai does she have? Who are the people in charge and where the fuck did you get the strength to flip Choji when he was over one hundred feet tall?"

"What you think I'm just going to tell you?" Naruto asked with a smirk, "Like the old me would've? Like an idiot would? Well here's a newsflash, Shikamaru!"

There was a squelching sound and Shikamaru's eyes widened before he looked down and saw a kunai piercing his leg. The dark eyes looked up into the sun-encircled blue ones, Shikamaru's gaze was filled with betrayal and confusion while Naruto's were filled with anger. Another squelch was heard and Shikamaru stumbled back, clutching his leg and gritting his teeth.

"I'm not the _dobe_ you can push around or poke fun at, just like you're not the same sarcastic lazy son of a bitch you were all those years ago," Naruto informed the man with accusing eyes.

"I-I'll kill you...Naruto!" The weak voice of the newest occupant said as members of Jupiter's Legion entered. Naruto turned and his gaze softened as the slightly charred body of his childhood friend was carried in. Before he could speak, Reyna stopped the entourage and glared down at the wounded man.

"Be silent," the young warrior scolded, "You've shamed both this camp and your ancestry, at least hold the decency not to disgrace yourself further."

"He doesn't even know what you're talking about," interjected the blond demigod as he placed a hand on Choji's head, ignoring the glare he received. Closing his eyes, Naruto softly spoke, "_Kind father above, show my foe some love; ensure the pain goes away, I will never turn astray._"

There was a small bright light from where Naruto's hand pressed against Choji's head. Choji felt the pains of his burns dim to nothing, making him look at Naruto questionably. Patting the large man on the head, Naruto said, "For burning you alive...I am sorry, Choji. Stabbing someone and flaying someone are two different things."

Choji said nothing, falling into a blissful sleep as he was moved into an adjacent cell. Naruto's eyes followed his old friend before looking back to Shikamaru, who was frowning as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

"You can keep plotting all you like, _Konohan_," Naruto said with a bit of disgust, "I'll be waiting."

"You can't keep us down here forever, Naruto!" Kiba called after the blond as he and the two girls left the cells, "I will get you for this! NARUTO!"

* * *

When Jason offered to show her around the very different Camp Jupiter, Thalia hadn't expected to run into her boyfriend and their younger companion being led around by the other Praetor, Reyna. With her armor off and wearing a bright purple tunic, Reyna was a rather beautiful girl of Hispanic descent with hair nearly as dark as Thalia's own. She stood at Naruto's shoulder, putting her a good few inches shorter than herself and her equally tall (and still growing) brother.

"Thalia-chan," Naruto greeted with a nod as well as a small smile. Thalia nodded curtly to him and Piper before looking expectantly at the other Praetor, to which Naruto introduced them, "Rey-chan, this is my...girlfriend Thalia Grace, Jason's sister and daughter of Zeus. Thalia, this is Reyna, daughter of Bellona the Roman War Goddess."

Thalia noticed that something flashed across Reyna's eyes and that the Praetor's eyebrows narrowed slightly when Naruto called her his girlfriend, but her face quickly turned into a small smile, "Welcome to Camp Jupiter, Thalia Grace."

"Just Thalia will do," the raven-haired daughter of Zeus as she returned the smile half-heartedly. It was exactly what she needed right now, a girl with a crush on her idiot. And judging on the pleased grin spreading across Naruto's face, he wasn't even aware of it. Fantastic. Addressing said idiot, Thalia asked, "So who were our followers?"

"Couple of guys from my hometown inviting me to a party," Naruto said.

Piper scoffed, "More like they were here to drag you to your ordered execution."

"Well thanks for having my back, Pipes!" Naruto chirped sarcastically as Thalia narrowed her eyes on him. In order to appease his girlfriend, Naruto was quick to add, "Look it's nothing to worry about. I sealed off their chakra and Rey-chan has them all under guard by members of the First Cohort, some of the best fighters in the Legion."

"Who did you assign?" Jason asked, getting Reyna to look at him.

"Just Marshal and Douglas," Reyna answered, "We already have them locked up and as Naruto said, he sealed away their sha-kra."

"_Cha_kra," corrected the blond. Naruto opened his mouth to continue when another voice spoke up.

"How _dare_ you show your face here!"

"Wonderful, just the person I didn't want to see," Naruto snarked before turning to glare at the newcomer. He was a pale skinny teen just about Thalia's height, with equally pale blond hair and crazed blue eyes that were narrowed onto Naruto's form. A white toga hung over a plain blue shirt and jeans. Thalia noted that there was a tattoo on his arm, of a lyre above the letters SPQR with five lines underneath it. Flanking him were two Roman campers with spears at the ready.

"You...You and your...Your Greek ideology!" the teen said, "Not to mention bringing enemies into the camp. Apprehend them!"

"Lower your weapons," Jason ordered the two before glaring at the newcomer, "And you stay out of this, Octavian!"

"Your compassion blinds you, Jason!" the teen, Octavian, accused, "You acquaint yourself with the enemy!"

"Oh shove it up your ass, _Octy_," Naruto sneered, "Why don't you go play with your stuffed animals?"

"You dare insult the Augur of Jupiter?" Octavian asked.

_Oh that is Bull. Shit!_ Helios raged, _This little twat wouldn't know the difference between a fortune cookie and a prophecy if it slapped him in the face!_

"Augur my ass!" Naruto snapped, taking a step towards Octavian as Helios' feelings on the matter influenced him, "You're nothing more than a Haruspex!"

The Augur looked like an apple he was so red, "You son of a-!"

"Finish that sentence and even the Gods won't save you from my wrath, Octavian!" Naruto warned the teen with murder in his eyes. If there was one thing Naruto disliked above all else in this Camp it was the great–times however many generations–nephew that stood before him. The two blond descendants of Apollo held murderous gazes while Octavian's 'guards' nervously looked between the two.

"Alright, that's enough!" Reyna announced, stepping between the two with a scowl set on her face. She turned to Naruto first, "As much as it pains me to admit it, Octavian has a point. You are a guest, do not show hostility to my people."

Reyna then turned to Octavian, "And you, Octavian, have no right in choosing who is and isn't allowed in our camp! Now return to your duties or I will have you arrested for attacking a foreign diplomat!"

"You don't have the right-!" Octavian began, only for Jason to step forward.

"You not only threatened our guests, Octavian, but _my_ sister as well!" Jason snarled, "Who happens to also be the daughter of Zeus! What does that tell you?"

Octavian promptly shut up, looking as though he just swallowed something sour, sending another sneering glare to Naruto. The look was returned with one of restrained anger, part of it was influenced by Helios' opinion and of Naruto's own dislike for the teen. Octavian held his gaze for a moment longer before retreating.

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he grumbled, "How the fuck did that come from my Dad?"

"Don't let him get to you," Reyna said to the blond, placing a hand on his arm, "He was trying to get you to react."

"Yeah and he almost got his wish," the older demigod muttered angrily. He turned around and walked away, interlocking his hands behind his head as he did, "Well, we gonna get some food soon? I thought you guys would've added a restaurant while I was gone!"

"You're a riot, Naruto," Jason replied as his eyes rolled. As Reyna and Piper followed after the son of Apollo, he nudged Thalia and asked, "You wanna go with them? We might not have a restaurant but we've got some pretty good food at the barracks."

"This place sounds more like a boot camp than a summer camp," Thalia murmured with her eyes narrowed as she watched Reyna gently touch Naruto's arm to gain his attention. Mad as she might be at her boyfriend, she wasn't about to let some crushing girl try to take him away. Looking at her brother and forcing down her anger, Thalia gave him a small smile, "Sure."

* * *

Later that evening, Shikamaru found himself staring up at the roof of his cell. Kiba had tired himself out trying to force one of their armored guards to release him under death threats. The guards merely spoke in _another_ language before laughing as their relief came in. Upon being asked what language they were speaking, he was told nothing. Choji floated in and out of consciousness. Whatever Naruto did, he made it possible for Choji to slowly recover, if what one of their guards said in English was anything to go by.

It made the heir to the Nara clan think about what Naruto had said to him.

_"You can't take me home: I __**Am**__ Home."_

* * *

**AN: And so ends the tenth chapter. Naruto and Thalia's big fight begins, but will it end just as quickly? Have the Konoha Shinobi been successfully subdued? Can Piper figure out the clues Naruto is laying out in front of her? Will we see a catfight in the next chapter? Will my stupid cold go away before the three-day weekend is over?**

**To find out there is only one thing left to do,**

**REVIEW!**


	11. XI

**AN: The COLD IS GONE! ****Bring out the confetti****~!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**XI**

* * *

_"You can't take me home: I. __**Am**__. Home."_ Naruto's whispered words echoed in the heir to the Nara clan's head as he sat in the cell, also wondering how he could escape. Had the girl wearing gold armor not given the guards instructions to search them for weapons or anything else for that matter, they could've been out of the cell by now.

_How could he say that?_ Shikamaru returned to the other train of thought as he lifted his arms and looked at the seals painted on them. Naruto had added them in when he learned the cuffs were coming off. Whatever had happened over the past seven years...It had changed the knuckleheaded dunce of the school he once knew to a smarter and far more cunning warrior.

_For better or worse?_ The man asked himself. He looked at the bars when that new language was barked out. The two guards exchanged a look before leaving the room, their armor clanking upon their movement. The door slammed shut and Shikamaru closed his eyes, thinking of ways to make use of his absent guards.

"You are the intruders then?" A new voice asked in English, making Shikamaru's eyes snap open. Standing before him was a skinny blond teen wearing a white sheet over a blue shirt and pants. The teen had eyes similarly blue to Naruto's, although lacking the sun that seemed to encircle his one-time friend's pupil.

"Who are you?" Shikamaru returned with suspicion.

"I am the Augur of Camp Jupiter, Legacy of Apollo, Octavian," the teen introduced himself with a scowl, "You are an enemy bested by the Exile, are you not?"

"Exile?" inquired the commander with furrowed brows.

"_Naruto_," Octavian hissed with distaste.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed before he answered, "Yes."

"You are here for him?" Octavian asked, "To kill him?"

"No," the jonin replied with a frown, "To return him home."

Octavian pursed his lips in thought, turning and walking to the other side of the room before he returned to the bars of the cell, "You mean us no harm? When you clearly have the giants on your side? Are you a fool or are you sincerely not interested in our camp?"

"We are here with orders to return Naruto to his home," Shikamaru answered, "By any means necessary."

"...If I were to free you," Octavian slowly began, "Hypothetically, of course, would you...remove him without harming any of our campers?"

"I can make no promises, but any attack on your campers would be only retaliation," Shikamaru replied. He paused before asking, "Tell me...Who is Apollo?"

"Blasphemous words leave your mouth!" hissed the Augur, "Apollo is my ancestor, God of the Sun and Prophecies."

"A god? You expect me to believe you are the descendant of a God?" Shikamaru asked with a disbelieving smirk, "What's next, Naruto's allies are too?"

"They are Greek children," Octavian sneered, "But still also children of the Gods."

"You can't seriously believe this," the man replied, "There's no evidence to prove-"

"Another word from your mouth and I will rethink my offer to help you!" Octavian snapped.

Shikamaru frowned but closed his mouth. If this kid wanted to think he was a child of a God then fine by him. The delusions would only turn him homicidal in the end. All he needed to do was earn the blond's trust to get himself and his team out, and if that meant indulging in these 'Gods' then so be it.

"I see you understand," Octavian said with a smirk. He reached into his sheet and withdrew a key, dropping it just outside of the bars. The Augur turned to leave, saying in a feigned concern, "Oh woe is me, I seem to have lost my key!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and waited for the teen to leave the room before reaching out and grabbing the key. He returned to his corner of the cell, looking at the still snoring Kiba and Akamaru before thinking of how to complete his mission. Subduing the guards would be simple, it would be getting Choji up and ready to go after Naruto once again that would be hard.

_We will move in an hour,_ Shikamaru decided.

* * *

As he sat atop the roof of the barracks of the Fifth Cohort, Naruto flipped the small medallion his father had given him up into the air, catching it in his hand before doing the act once again. Thalia had returned it after dinner, telling him that she didn't need anymore of his 'help' before leaving him stunned and saddened. She was still mad at him for not telling her about Jason. Thalia was actually _very_ mad at him if all her jibes at him during dinner meant anything.

_I should've told her sooner..._Naruto berated himself with a frown as he flipped the coin, _Screw Rai-Jiji's orders. Since when do I listen to authority?_

_Since authority had taken control of your life,_ Helios said, giving his input.

_Shut up, Helios_, thought the Guardian with a scowl. Looking up at the moon, Naruto continued to think about how this quest was becoming worse. If only he could just-No...He couldn't beat the Fates. He tried that once, to interfere in another's fate by attempting to change his own. It didn't end well.

_Naruto awoke with a gasp. The last thing he remembered was the stupid fox yelling at him for sacrificing himself for a group of fleshbags. Well, he remembered that and a lot of pain in his shoulders. And in his legs for that matter. Actually, his whole body hurt. Like, a lot._

_"He's not supposed to be here yet!" an old woman exclaimed, making the blond teenager wince at the sound of her voice._

_"The string isn't cut!" insisted another old woman's voice, "We have time to fix this!"_

_"Well, that is a shame because he is here!" A younger woman retorted. Naruto groaned quietly, all the yelling was giving him a headache. His groan earned the attention of the speakers, all of them looking at him. Naruto returned the looks and was surprised with what he found._

_Three old ladies, all with hair whiter than snow, were staring at him in surprise, and hanging from their hands was a long string that felt very important. They were dressed in white and each looked at him unblinkingly, silver eyes staring into his own blue._

_Behind them stood a dark skinned man with long dark hair, a healthy lean build that would've had a girl blushing had they seen him. His honey golden eyes were far more ancient than he appeared and an aura Naruto would've sworn was Nature chakra came from him._

_Sitting in two obsidian thrones were two more people, a young woman that had a beauty that reminded the blond of springtime and a man who he would've claimed was Sasuke's father, had the man been any less pale than he already was. Perhaps this was Sai's true father._

_"Stupid boy!" One of the old ladies scolded him, "You have years ahead of you to go! Now look at this mess we're in!"_

_"Say wha?" Naruto elegantly replied._

The son of Apollo was jarred from his thoughts as his spatial awareness kicked in, leaning back as he caught the medallion to avoid being struck by a kunai. Standing, Naruto rolled his neck as he slipped the medallion into one of his expanded pockets. The blond turned to where the kunai had come from, meeting the eyes of the shinobi that stood at the other end of the barracks.

"You know, the second I yell the whole camp will be up at arms," informed the blond, reaching down to uncap his kunai case, "Who let you out of your kennel, dog boy?"

"Shikamaru snatched the key from a guard," Kiba replied. He lifted his right arm and revealed the seal the blond had left behind, "All that remains is for you to take these damn seals off."

"...Let me see if I got this straight," began the teenage blond with his hands raised, "You just escaped from a guarded cell, in a foreign military camp, and you want me, the one who subdued you and who you're trying to detain, to...finish releasing you from your chain?"

Naruto snorted, "What, do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Wouldn't surprise me!" Kiba retorted with a scowl, "This is the last time I'm going to ask nicely. Take. Them. Off!"

Naruto vanished as soon as the opposite man's eyes blinked. He reappeared with his arm thrown over Kiba's shoulders, a kunai in his other hand aimed at the man's gut. Naruto leaned his head back, looking at the moon as it hung in the sky, before he spoke, "You really are in no place to threaten me, Kiba. You're just full of hot air, and trust me, I know what hot air looks like."

"I-!"

"Oh save it, Kiba," the blond cut in, "You and I both know that Shikamaru is waiting over on the Fourth Cohort's barracks, and Akamaru is carrying the still recovering Choji to the exit, which is under guard mind you. So whatever Shikamaru is planning, might as well call it off."

"This is the plan, stupid!" Kiba snapped, flicking his wrist and revealing a kunai that was hidden in his jacket sleeve. He spun towards Naruto, bringing the kunai up to stab him in the shoulder. The blond retracted his arm, turning out of way to avoid the strike. He ducked a wild claw strike, a classic Inuzuka move, and countered with a punch into the side of the abdomen, just a bit too low and too left to strike the solar plexus. Kiba doubled over with a gasp, letting Naruto be free to grab onto the back of the older man's flak jacket, then driving his knee up into the target he had initially missed with his punch.

"It's not as easy as it was on the playground, Keebs!" Naruto taunted as he shoved the canine affiliated shinobi to the side, "I'm not the twiggy, underfed orphan boy who got by on food stamps anymore!"

"The...the fuck are food stamps?" Kiba asked as he struggled to get back up.

Naruto rolled his eyes before grabbing the older man by the ears, pulling him up easily. The blond pulled his head back before driving his forehead into Kiba's nose, earning a very satisfying crunch. As Kiba yowled in pain, Naruto looked around, eyes narrowing in thought.

"Oh...that clever motherfucker," praised the blond before he closed his eyes and flared his chakra, his body reacting as it normally did when he would in the past: He started to glow.

The light illuminated the area slightly, revealing a once hidden Shikamaru watching from where Naruto had sat before this fight began. In his hand was another kunai waiting to be thrown, his eyes narrowed. Naruto stopped glowing just as quickly as he started, turning around and punt kicking the rising Kiba in the head. Kiba's head snapped up, falling back into blissful unconsciousness.

"You figured out the key to my lock," accused the blond, "That I can believe. Didn't exactly make it hard to figure out. A quick application of ink that was in your supplies and poof, no more seals. Kept Kiba sealed up to keep me off my guard. Your first mistake was thinking I wouldn't notice his screams not getting anyone's attention."

"A gamble I had to take," Shikamaru admitted, looking to his unconscious friend with disappointment. The man sighed and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with a match. After a good inhale, Shikamaru asked, "What was the second give away?"

"You stole a key to the cell from the guards? While having no chakra or weapons?" Naruto scoffed, "Please. I learned the hard way how not to rely on chakra all the time. It makes things too easy, until it becomes impossible to use. And you, being the lazy ass you are, wouldn't have been able to overpower two well-trained Romans. Especially while in a cell."

"And?" Shikamaru asked, his eyebrow arching in interest.

"You had help," Naruto concluded. Approaching the smoking shinobi, Naruto continued, "Someone, I don't know who or why, but someone helped you escape. And the worst part of it is, I know Konoha didn't send you back up. I would've sensed it."

"Bullshit."

"No, really I would've," the blond insisted, "There's no one outside of the Hidden Lands that uses chakra like we do. Practically everyone here is a civilian. Less than in some cases. Trust me...I would've felt it if you had backup. So that means someone _in_ this camp has decided to willingly assist an enemy of the state. And the only reason I can think of someone doing that is...Me."

Shikamaru remained quiet, content with taking another drag of his cigarette. There was more silence for a while before Naruto spoke, "You want me to go back to Konoha with you, correct?"

The jonin nodded slowly, his brow furrowing.

"Alright then," Naruto shrugged, "The fact someone was willing to betray Camp Jupiter just to get rid of me proves that I'm more of a problem here than I thought. I have some business back at Konoha that has to be settled anyway."

"Just like that?" Shikamaru asked suspiciously.

"Tch, fuck no not just like that," Naruto retorted with a scowl, "You're going to be my tickets back into Konoha."

"What?"

"You officially have two options," Naruto snapped, "Option one, best option: I go back to Konoha the same way you got here, quick, quiet and unseen. No more fighting, no more fuss."

"I don't suppose you'd appreciate being handcuffed," deadpanned the jonin.

"Gee, what made you think that?" sarcastically replied the Guardian, "No restraints, or I will show you how badly I held back against Choji."

"...Unfortunately, I believe you," Shikamaru admitted before sighing, "Troublesome blond."

"I try," Naruto said with a smirk before raising two fingers, "Option two, worst decision. You deny my offer to come peacefully, I sound the alarm and you, as well as the rest of your squad get killed before the night is done."

"That leaves you here," Shikamaru said with a frown.

"I know most of the ways to get to Konoha, but you wouldn't believe me," Naruto said, crossing his arms, "I'm curious as to how you got here. Sue me."

Shikamaru stared at his younger opponent, his mind racing. Seconds of silence felt like hours were passing for Naruto, his body tense and ready to retaliate if Shikamaru decided to be difficult. Now, normally he'd be against going back to Konoha altogether, beating the ever loving shit out of the shinobi and call it a day, but he had been thinking about how the quest had been so far. Sooner or later he'd have to go to Konoha to get the cure for Bianca's illness from the Shadow Slug. So, why not do it on his terms instead of someone else's.

"Fine," Shikamaru's voice earned Naruto's full attention, allowing the blond to grin as the genius continued, "Just one thing first: Who's Apollo?"

Naruto had to fight down the urge to laugh at the poor foreigner's face from the question. The blond couldn't suppress the grin that threatened to cross his face, though. Shaking his head Naruto looked up at the moon, grin still plastered on his face as he spoke, "The guy that let you out, was he tall, skinny and blond?"

"Yeah. His name was-" "_Octavian_," Naruto interrupted with a shake of his head. Running a hand through his messy blond locks, he growled, "That son of a bitch."

"He reminds me of you," Shikamaru said, getting a glare from the blond, "Physically. He acts more like...Sasuke would've had he, you know, not gone crazy."

"Definitely that stupid Haruspex," Naruto growled. Holding a hand up, Naruto said, "Before we go, one quick thing."

* * *

Thalia woke up as she went to bed: pissed off. She was pissed off at her boyfriend for hiding her brother. She was pissed off at her boyfriend for not telling off Reyna. She was pissed off at her boyfriend for not telling her anything about this stupid quest!

_Dammit,_ Thalia growled to herself as she rolled out of the cot she was assigned. She was pissed off that Naruto didn't come wake her up. Again. Instead, she was woken up by a loud alarm that echoed through the camp. Grabbing her jacket from the hanger as she left the barracks, Thalia raised a hand to shield herself from the unnaturally bright sunlight. There was a lot of shouting and several armored teens were running across the previous day's calm roads.

"Thalia!" the raven-haired girl turned at the sound of her name and found Piper running up to her, still dressed as she was the day before.

"Piper," Thalia greeted, "Any idea what was going on?"

"Not a clue," the younger girl replied before asking, "Do you know what a dream about a dove and an eagle flying together means?"

"Talking to the wrong person," Thalia replied before stopping a passing Roman, "Hey, what's going on?"

"The Prisoners have escaped and Legionnaire Uzumaki is missing," the Roman replied, "The Praetors are by the holding cells. I figured you'd want to talk to Jason next."

"Smart kid," Thalia complimented, getting a salute, before looking at Piper, "Come on."

The two immediately went to the holding cells, outside of which they immediately found two tall Roman teens getting scolded by Jason while Reyna shook her head in disbelief. The blond teen turned to face them at Reyna's nudge, greeting his older sister with a grin. He turned and said something to the Romans in Latin, causing the two to quickly flee. Looking back at his sister, Jason asked "So, do you want to hear the good news or bad news?"

"Bad news, the prisoners broke out and Naruto is missing," Thalia summed up with ease.

Jason nodded, "Yep."

"And the good news?" Thalia asked.

Reyna held up one of Naruto's tri-pronged kunai, "Naruto didn't leave without a fight."

Snatching the weapon from the girl crushing on her boyfriend, Thalia looked at the weapon. She turned it over in her hands a few times before noticing something being off with the handle. A flap of the handle was peeling off, prompting her to carefully undo what was being done.

"What are you doing?" Reyna demanded, "You're ruining his weapon!"

"I'm reading the message," corrected the daughter of Zeus as she continued to unroll a small slip of paper. She handed the knife to Piper and read the message that Naruto had left behind. Her brows furrowed before she read the message aloud, "'Ask Octavian'?"

Jason and Reyna shared a look and began speaking in hushed Latin. Jason became angry, stopping a passing girl by grabbing her by the arm and ordering her to do something relating to Octavian. The girl nodded and rushed off, leaving Jason to round back on Reyna, "I told you he's been getting power hungry!"

"Most do, but he's our only Augur," Reyna countered, "Without him..."

"There's no excuse for releasing enemies within the camp! Endangering all of us for personal gain!" Jason ranted.

"Who endangered us?" Octavian asked as he approached the gathered four. Jason took a step towards him, stopped only by Reyna's hand.

"Don't play games, Octavian!" Jason snapped, "You released the prisoners and now they've captured one of us!"

"I don't care for your accusations, Jason," Octavian retorted before shifting his gaze to Thalia and Piper, "And why are _they_ here? This is a Camp concern, isn't it?"

"They are here because their friend is missing," the blond Praetor said, "And the guards for last night told both Reyna and myself you had ordered them to step outside."

"You seem awfully eager to jump at the words of two members of the _Fifth_ Cohort," replied the Augur with a scowl, "It was two members of the _Fifth_ that were on watch, correct?"

"Are you accusing _my_ soldiers–no, _my_ friends of lying to me?" Jason asked as his eyes narrowed.

"Well they have always been jealous of the First Cohort," Octavian said, "What better way to get back at us by getting me, a Centurion of the First Cohort?"

"Jason," Reyna warned the blond as he tensed and prepared to make a move against the Augur.

Jason's fists were clenched and he was fighting down the anger he felt for Octavian. He was proud of being a member of the Fifth Cohort and how far they had come. Jason was not entirely sure he deserved all the credit to the Fifth Cohort's slow return to Jupiter's grace. He wouldn't have been as strong as he was had Naruto not shown up those five years ago. Jason had learned from the older blond many things, but the one lesson Naruto pounded (literally in some cases) into his head was that of never leaving comrades behind. It was what he had started to drill into the other members of the Fifth Cohort. They probably were not the most prestigious Cohort of the Legion, but they were now the most efficient.

"Octavian," Reyna began, "Not only have the guards spoken to us, but we received a message from Naruto, telling us to ask you."

"Well he and I don't get along," Octavian said, "And we displayed that loud enough to be heard throughout the camp yesterday. Even the guards must have talked about it. The prisoners must have forged his handwriting."

"It's written in _Greek_," Thalia informed him, turning the note around for Octavian to see, "And those invaders only just learned English."

"How do you know?" Octavian countered with a scowl in her direction, "Maybe those invaders came from closer to home than you think?"

"Are you implying that we're behind this?" Thalia asked as her eyes narrowed.

Octavian smirked, "Those are your words. Greek."

Before either of the angry Grace siblings could speak, there was a bright flash of light. Those around the area, once the light had faded, immediately knelt down and bowed their heads. Jason, Reyna, and even Octavian bowed their heads in respect for the being that stood before them. Piper and Thalia, however, just stared in disbelief.

(Phoebus) Apollo had expensive sunglasses covering his eyes and was wearing an expensive business suit. He had a cellphone pressed against his ear and was talking animatedly into it, "Yeah. No yeah, yeah, yeah I understand, Vinnie. I just need you to understand that I haven't got time for you to get indecisive about doing another sequel! Alright listen, we have got to talk about this later, that up and comer is on the other line. Ciao bud."

Hanging up the phone Apollo sighed as he looked up before looking over at the two Praetors. Rolling his eyes he waved his hand, "Oh, everyone just get up. Where's the Greek girls?"

He turned around and found the both of them staring at him. Extending his arms, Apollo said, "Ah, well fantastic. We're all here then. The Greeks, the Golden Boy of Juno and...The Sneak."

Apollo turned around and faced Octavian, "You. You betrayed this camp."

"I...I didn't do anything..." Octavian stammered, ducking his head, "Forgive me, Father."

Apollo's eyes narrowed, "You released enemy forces into this camp with the sole intent to get some petty vengeance on one of your own."

"He-He was an exile–!"

"I did not say you could speak," Apollo snapped, "You have felt comfort for far too long, Octavian. You've abused your place as Augur, and you have disgraced my lineage."

"No, no, no please," Octavian groveled, "Please, I can do better. Don't take this from me, Augury is all I know."

Placing a hand on the pale teen's head, Apollo smiled as he spoke, "I would never take away such a gift. You love your prophecies, more than you do your status, am I right?"

"Yes, yes!"

Phoebus Apollo's cold eyes warmed and before the eyes of Camp Jupiter (the two Greek children not included) his appearance changed. The suit melted away to reveal a white tank top and loose jeans, the glasses changing from expensive business sunglasses to aviators. His hand clenched around Octavian's head and calmly, the now Greek Apollo said, "Allow me to hone your gift, then."

Octavian's eyes widened and he started to scream in agony, his hands went to the side of his head, just shy of touching Apollo's hand. The pale teen stopped screaming, resorting to begging, "No more! Take it back!"

"This is your punishment for going against my wishes," Apollo snapped, "The prophecy you were to give Jason today. Give it to him."

Octavian released another cry of agony, prompting Apollo to squeeze harder, "I. Said. Tell. Him."

The Augur squeezed his eyes tight, as though having an inner debate, before he opened his mouth once more, "_Jupiter's child rides Sol's steed! To a hidden world a friend is freed! The man with two faces attacks above! Rescue comes from an eagle and dove!_"

Apollo shone brightly, returning to the appearance of Phoebus, and retracted his hand. Octavian collapsed, curling in on himself and starting to speak incoherently. Thalia put herself between her boyfriend's father and Piper, not used to this side of a God. Her own father's decision to turn her into a tree notwithstanding, and the mockery of a vote last winter, that was the first time she had seen a God really punish someone.

"Get him out of here," Apollo ordered two Romans standing nearby. They acted quickly, rushing to help the incoherent Augur up. As he stood, Octavian shoved himself out of their grasp and went to Jason, grasping the blond by the shoulders.

"If you go, your life will change forever!" Octavian hissed with madness in his eyes, "The changes will spread and burn all that made this Camp what it is!"

"Get off me!" Jason snapped, shoving the weaker teen off, "Put him in a cell!"

"Throw the book at him!" Apollo added as the two Romans addressed earlier took the Augur away. Taking off his sunglasses, Apollo used a piece of cloth retrieved from his pockets to clean the lenses. The God looked at the Praetors, his piercing blue eyes locking on those of Jason's before he spoke with a grin, "Looks like we have a lunch date."

* * *

**AN: What is it with the Gods and feeding demigods? First Hera, now Apollo. Meh. Will we see a certain steed? Will Octavian recover from his newfound curse? Can you decipher the prophecy? I hope so because it wasn't that hard for me to write. And will Dexter EVER be discovered as the...Oh right, that was in 2008. In that case, will Bill and Ted have an Excellent Adventure?**

**If you want to find out there is only one thing left to do,**

**REVIEW!**


	12. XII

**AN: It was the damn sequel. Totally bogus.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**XII**

* * *

"So who likes Tex-Mex? I could go for a chimichanga," Apollo said as he led the teens into the dining area. The few already there quickly vacated when they pieced together who Apollo was. The blond man frowned at one of the tables of the barracks' dining pavilion. With a simple wave of his hand, the table had changed into one that could be seen at a restaurant, complete with tablecloth, rolled napkins around silverware and placemats for them. Apollo took the now lush and expensive looking dining chair that could arguably called the head of the table, leaning back with a content sigh.

"It's not the Ritz, but it's comfy," he said. The God then gestured to the other chairs, "Take a seat, ladies. And Jason."

Jason rolled his eyes as he did, sitting across from Thalia. Reyna sat next to her fellow Praetor while Piper claimed the spot next to the older Grace. Thalia warily kept an eye on the God of the Sun, who was looking at the four teens with a serious gaze. He then looked at their empty placemats, "Hm. No Tex-Mex, then? Something else, perhaps?"

"We should really discuss why you're here," Jason said, almost insistent.

Apollo sent him a look of annoyance before rolling his eyes with a huff, "I try to be nice, and this is how I'm repaid?"

"It's not that, Lord Apollo," Reyna said, "But we have urgent matters to attend to. Prisoners from another land have escaped and Naruto Uzumaki is-."

"I know where he is," Apollo interrupted. The four teens looked at him and he smirked, "Yes, I figured that would garner your attentions. Now, Jason, you have a quest to ride Sol's steed, correct?"

"Yes...You insisted that Octavian give me the quest," reminded the son of Jupiter.

"Technically, yes I did," nodded the God of the Sun. He then looked to the Greek side of the table and spoke with a thinly veiled tolerance, "Now as for you two. You will be... accompanying him because of your part in Naruto's Prophecy."

"We have a part in Naruto's Prophecy?" Thalia asked with surprise. Great, even more things are being revealed that Naruto had kept hidden. She didn't even receive the full prophecy, just little hints.

"I'm not surprised that he didn't tell you," replied Apollo, "It was a unique prophecy, one given to him by Helios."

Thalia felt her jaw pop open slightly, "R-Really?"

"Do you think I would lie about that?" The god asked. Apollo snorted before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He fiddled with the device for a moment before he spoke, "Ah, here we are."

The God pressed a button and placed the phone down. The prophecy was read by the voice of a woman,

_"A life risked for the Ghost King's precious one,_

_The family reunites after the Roman attacks the Sun."_

"That's already happened," Reyna said with a hint of disgust in her voice. To think, one of Bacchus' children would be a traitor.

_"Three take the Fire Steed neither West nor East,_

_The Pinwheel's Spiral Blade revives the Leaf's dreaded Beast."_

"The first part obviously relates to us," Jason said, gesturing to Thalia and Piper as well as himself.

"Just wait," Apollo said with a raised hand, "There's still more."

_"Rescue comes from the power of Lightning and Thunder,_

_The Shadow Slug defeats death with a gift of wonder._

_After the Guardian's past returns twice more,_

_Two brothers shall fall during the Labyrinth War."_

The phone clicked off and Apollo retrieved it, stuffing it back into his pocket. He looked around the table before he spoke, "Listen. Normally, I just let these things run their course, last winter aside. However, this was a prophecy devised by someone outside of my circle. When I caught wind of it, I decided to issue my own prophecy to you, Jason."

Leaning forward to the boy, he continued, "I want you to bring my son back from the place he was taken."

"'Rescue comes from the power of Lightning and Thunder,'" Piper's voice earned everyone's attention, "What? The prophecy is talking about Jason and Thalia. The only thing I can't figure out is where I fit in."

"Really?" inquired the girl seated on Jason's left, "'Lady of the Doves?' Charmspeaking? You're obviously a daughter of Venus."

"_Aphrodite_," Apollo corrected sternly and looked as though he swallowed something sour, "Little McLean here is _Greek_."

"The Goddess of Love is my mother?" Piper asked in surprise. She didn't see that coming, especially with how tomboyish she is. Wasn't she supposed to be a total love obsessed girl in that case?

"Yeah, Naruto had a theory on that one," Thalia added. The raven-haired girl continued as the pieces fell in place, "So you are the Dove in the prophecy Jason got."

"Alright, now that we have this titling revelation out of the way, shall we get a move on?" inquired the Sun God. The teens all stood and began to leave the dining pavilion. Apollo stopped Thalia, placing a hand on her shoulder. When the others looked at him, he smiled reassuringly, "We'll only be a second, just a few words of advice for my son's girlfriend."

Jason was the last to leave, but the second he did the door of the dining pavilion shut. Apollo removed his hand and walked around Thalia, glaring down to her with his arms crossed. After a few moments of tense silence and shifting uncomfortably under the God's gaze, Thalia finally broke, "What do you want?"

"I want many things," Apollo said in a crisp tone, "But from you I would like it if you broke it off with my son."

"Excuse me?" Thalia asked. She faltered for words before finding her voice once again, "You're the one that tricked us into a fucking dance at Christmas!"

"Oh Grace...Little Miss Thalia Grace, let me explain," Apollo began, "You see, that was my _Greek_ self; my _stupid_ self. I'm Roman right now."

Thalia just gave him a confused look, prompting the god to cup his chin, "Hm, how should I put this? Ah, Elvis has left the building is an appropriate phrase."

"B-But you're standing right here," the raven-haired girl stated.

"Oh Order, why is this so difficult?" said Apollo as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Lowering his hand, the God of the Sun said, "Alright, I'll put it like Naruto would. The Gods have Multiple Personality Disorder, one is Greek and the other is Roman. Get it?"

Thalia slowly nodded, making Apollo exhale in relief, "Thank Us."

"Tell me why you don't want me to be with Naruto," Thalia bluntly demanded.

The Roman God of the Sun snorted, "Why? I'll tell you why. He's going to _outgrow_ you, Thalia. At the end of this war with the Crooked One, the Olympians are going to offer him a place amongst the Gods."

"Why would they offer him that?" asked the girl in confusion and a bit of envy.

Apollo shook his head as his hands went to his waist, "Oh, it's so sad how sincerely confused you are. Why would we offer him a place amongst us? Hello! He's got the soul of a God and the strength of one to boot! He bested and disarmed Atlas, a feat not many can declare. Naruto even managed to slip him back into his punishment, a slight of hand that thieving Greek God would be envious of."

Thalia admitted that it was an impressive bit of info to put on his resume, but still Naruto wouldn't have originally disarmed Atlas without Zoë's help, something she brought up, "But what about when Zoë helped him?"

"As a subordinate should do when their commander is in trouble," Apollo waved the claim off, "As far as I'm concerned, Naruto is already worthy. But where would that leave you? A silly little Greek with...What's the female equivalent of a bastard?"

"I don't have to take this from you!" Thalia snapped, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparking with rage.

"Never said you did," agreed Apollo. His eyes hardened as they narrowed, "But I still want you to call it off. ...Weren't you going to anyway? After you found out he kept your brother a secret? Maybe that's not the only thing he's keeping from you."

The raven-haired demigoddess just stood there glaring at him for a moment before storming around him and out the door. She couldn't dispute that since it was one of the things she dreaded the most, that there was something even worse Naruto was keeping from her. What could be worse than hiding Jason, Thalia wasn't sure, but the fact remains that it was something she really needed to address when she spoke to Naruto.

Phoebus Apollo smirked in victory before his form shone brightly once more, revealing the Greek Apollo standing in all of his surfer attire glory. Whipping his head around in confusion, Apollo scratched the back of his head and mumbled, "I have the strangest feeling that I totally just threw someone under a bus for some reason. Aw, man if my douchebag side said something to Arte again, I'll never hear the end of it for a millennia!"

Apollo shone once more and Phoebus stood in his place. With nothing else to say, he calmly stepped out of the pavilion, slipping his sunglasses back on. Thalia refused to look at him, which he was perfectly fine with.

Jason took note of his sister's upset features and put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Thalia snapped, jerking herself out of his grip. Jason wanted to pursue the subject, because clearly she was not fine, but was unable to due to suddenly being blinded by a bright flash of light. When the light died down, the son of Jupiter was in awe at what was before him. Strapped to a golden horse that appeared to be made of fire was a golden chariot that had a Greek sun engraved on the front.

"Is-Is that horse on fire?" Piper asked in concern for the creature's state.

"Its Zephyr," Thalia said, her surprise at seeing the fiery steed overcoming her other emotions. The horse whinnied at his name, prompting Thalia to continue, "He's a spirit of fire that once belonged to Helios."

"He's Naruto's now," Apollo interjected, approaching the horse and patting him on the side, "Do me a solid, Zephyr, help these kids get Naruto back?"

Zephyr whinnied and nodded his head excitedly, making the God of the Sun nod. He turned to the three teens and said, "You got the go ahead. Get on and hold on tight."

Thalia, Piper and Jason did as they were told, the older child of the Thunder God glaring at her boyfriend's father as she passed. Jason took the reigns in his hand, preparing to crack them when Piper asked, "Um...How are we going to stay in the chariot?"

"Hold on to the edge," Thalia suggested as she realized what type of transportation she just got onto. Her eyes squeezed shut and she clenched her fist tightly onto the edge. Piper saw this and copied the older girl.

As they took off towards the sky, Apollo stepped back to stand next to Reyna. Glancing at the other Praetor, the Roman God said, "Don't let the daughter of Zeus beat you so easily. And increase the training drills. War is coming; Mars grows restless."

He left before Reyna could speak, feeling as though his purpose was done, leaving the Praetor to wonder what the God of the Sun had meant by his first statement.

* * *

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick," Thalia groaned as she barely avoided looking over the edge of the chariot, "I thought that the chariot would be something...something with a seat?"

"Sol's Chariot hasn't been seen or used since the rise of Rome," Jason said calmly, "What'd Apollo say the spirit's name was?"

"Zephyr," Piper repeated, getting the horse to whinny at his name, "Well, it sure is as beautiful as he is. But I thought that was the Greek God of the West Wind?"

"Trust me, I've met that god," Thalia snapped, "He's definitely not a horse."

Jason looked over his shoulder at his sister, "You alright?"

"I. Hate. Heights," Thalia grit out as she managed to glare at her little brother.

Taking the hint, Jason looked forward, mumbling, "Didn't think it was that bad."

"Where are we going anyway?" the younger demigoddess asked, "North?"

"South," Thalia corrected, "It feels like we're going south. Now can we please stop talking about what we're doing?"

Piper took the hint, deciding to quickly change the subject to hopefully a better topic, "So...How did Naruto come to Camp Jupiter?"

"Most likely the usual way," Jason answered, "He trained with Lupa for a bit before being sent to camp as a Probatio, a probationary camper of no rank in our army."

"But when we were looking for him, the guy who sent us to you called him a Legionnaire," continued the daughter of Aphrodite, "Did something change?"

"It's a long story," Jason said as he looked forward, "It was during my third year as a Legionnaire, when I became a Centurion, for the Fifth Cohort that Naruto arrived. He was...not the average Roman."

"He's not the average guy either," Piper admitted, grinning at Thalia slyly, "Or is he?"

"Overstepping your grounds," Thalia warned before groaning as she relaxed her eyes for a split second, closing them immediately, "Jason, story, tell it. Now."

"Okay, okay," replied the younger Grace, "I saw him from time to time, the occasional passing in the Fifth Cohort, but I was different then. Arrogant because of who my father was, a kind of no-nonsense guy."

"In other words, you had a stick up your ass," Thalia bluntly summarized.

"...You and Naruto are so meant to be," Jason retorted dryly, "He said the same thing during our first sparing match before the weekly siege battle."

* * *

_Jason stood across from the older blond, eyes narrowed in thought as the older teen rolled his neck, excessively delaying the battle that was to come. Gritting his teeth, Jason cried out, "Are you so cowardly that you wish to delay your own demise?"_

_The teen currently stretching his arm across his chest paused in his action, tilting his head in thought before replying, "Nope. I couldn't honestly give a damn if I lose here."_

_"If you lose here, you are denied admission into the siege!" Jason snapped, furious at how disrespectful the older boy was being, "You are a Probatio, the fact I am fighting you should make this all the more serious!"_

_"And I should care who you are because...why?" Naruto asked as his brow arched._

_"I am Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort!" announced the boy proudly, "I am your superior and you will respect me."_

_"Respect is earned, kid," replied the blond with a snort, "And so far, you have done nothing to earn mine."_

_"Then I'll fix that!" Jason snapped, pulling his coin out and flipping it in the air. It descended and landed in his hand, the face of Julius Caesar looking back at him. The coin shone brightly before revealing an Imperial Gold sword, ready and willing to attack._

_Naruto rolled his eyes, shaking his arms before bringing up his right arm, revealing a golden band with a gleaming red jewel in the center. Naruto opened his mouth, and then suddenly changed his mind, lowering his arm and slipping back on his right leg. The blond suddenly looked up and said, "You ever just...watch the clouds? Wonder how they move?"_

_"I will not be made a fool!" Jason announced, "Begin the match!"_

_"Nah..." Naruto interlocked his hands behind his head as he looked up, "I'd rather watch the clouds...Maybe see how long I can stare into the sun."_

_"Then I will begin the match!" snapped the younger blond. Jason rushed forward, bringing his sword up to attack. When he brought it down his eyes widened as Naruto just...vanished. Jason found his sword was still lodged in a portion of a log that was sliced nearly in half._

_"Too slow, Jay," teased the older boy from behind the younger blond. Jason angrily grabbed the log, pulling his sword out and tossing the fallen bit of wood away. He spun around with an angry slash, slicing the air._

_"Ole!" the blond laughed out, making Jason grind his teeth in frustration. Something tapped his shoulder, prompting Jason to spin in the opposite direction in hopes of catching the older teen off guard. Once again he hit nothing, making the Centurion growl._

_"Why so serious, kid?" laughed out the older teen in a way that his voice sounded like it came from everywhere, "You're what? Ten? Relax and enjoy life!"_

_"The only thing I care about is the Legion's success!" Jason snapped, "That's all that matters!"_

_"Wrong thing to say to me, kid," retorted the blond from right behind Jason. There was a plopping sound and then Jason cringed as something slick penetrated his ear. Naruto laughed as he pulled his finger out, causing Jason to furiously start wiping at it. The older blond laughed, standing in front of the younger one, "Wet Willy!"_

_"You are an embarrassment to the Legion!" Jason snapped with a glare._

_"You need to lighten up," Naruto replied with a grin. Jason growled and swung his sword at the teen, making Naruto laugh as he kept hopping out of the way, taunting with each miss, "Oh, you were so close, just then! Nearly got me that time! Try and put some back into it!"_

_Jason stopped, panting and glaring at the hardly out of breath teen, "Fight back, damn you!"_

_"You want me to get serious?" Naruto asked, "Is that what you want?"_

_"FIGHT ME!" demanded the younger blond, his face one of fury._

_"Alright then, all you had to do was ask," Naruto said._

* * *

"Then he vanished," Jason said, "And...I don't remember anything after it."

Thalia noticed Jason's shoulder twitch as he said that, and she smirked. He had gotten her to ignore what they were currently doing with his story, and for that, Thalia was grateful. However, he had teased her about it. As Naruto would put it, payback was a necessary evil. So the raven-haired teenage girl leaned forward and whispered into her brother's ear, "Sennen Goroshi."

Instinctively, Jason flinched and pulled on the reigns, causing the chariot to rise. He struggled to retain control while both Thalia and Piper screamed in surprise. Jason pulled the reigns back and called out the steed's name, making Zephyr steady himself. Jason, panting heavily, turned and looked at his terrified looking sister. Through gritted teeth, Jason said, "Do not _ever_ say those words again."

"Yeah, I figured that out, thanks!" Thalia snapped back as she tried to regain control of her racing heart.

"What did she say?" Piper asked curiously.

"A move Naruto had used on me," Jason answered after a beat of silence. The blond teen shuddered as he thought about it, "A move I wish upon no one, enemies included."

"Oh come on! All he does is poke you in the ass!" Thalia exclaimed.

Jason glared at her, "It's an invasion of personal privacy!"

"How do you know what it is?" Piper asked the older girl.

"He used it on my cousin Percy during a training session," Thalia explained. At Piper's furrowed brow, Thalia clarified, "He's the son of Poseidon."

"Ah," Piper said with a nod of understanding.

"Strangest thing was the sick grin Naruto had on his face before he used it," Thalia added.

"That grin was the last thing I saw before it happened," Jason mumbled as another shiver went down his spine. Shaking the horrible memory away, Jason looked down through the clouds with furrowed brows. The blond's eyes widened and he gasped, earning Thalia and Piper's attentions. Letting go of the reigns with one hand, Jason pointed down and said, "We...We're flying over Antarctica."

"No way!" Piper exclaimed as she looked over the edge in awe. They had only been in the chariot for ten minutes!

"Don't care," Thalia stated flatly as her eyes closed again, "Just tell me when we're back on the ground."

That seemed to be the magical sentence, because Zephyr suddenly climbed up before diving back down. The three teens in the chariot screamed in fear for their lives as they rapidly descended through the clouds. Zephyr whinnied once again once they broke through, and before them, was a massive walled city. To the south of the village was a large mountainside with five faces, four men and one woman.

They were not falling towards it, thankfully. No, the three chariot riders and the fiery steed were heading for a large building that looked almost like a school. Jason pulled back on the reigns hard enough to force Zephyr from driving them through the wall of the building, instead crashing them into the ground outside. The three teens lost the little balance that they had left and fell out of the chariot as the doors to the building were thrown open. The chariot's attachments to Zephyr came undone and the burning horse reeled back on his hind legs, whinnying in success as the chariot burst into flame and vanished in the wind.

"I'm going to kill that horse!" Thalia raged as she got to her feet. The horse in question shot past her, making her spin around and prepare to attack only to gape at what she saw.

"Zephyr!" a familiar voice cried out in surprise as the horse tackled him to the ground once again. Getting his face licked by a fiery tongue was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, son of Apollo. He was wearing a new shirt, an orange T with a large black arrow pointing up that fitted to his chest, and most likely new pants by the darker shade on them, the same battle sandals on his feet he often wore. It was at that point Thalia remembered that he also had hers and Piper's clothes sealed away. Something she was hell bent on getting back.

"Naruto!" "Namikaze-sama!" It was then Thalia realized that men and women wearing light body armor and white animal masks surrounded her, her brother and Piper. As Naruto pushed the overly affectionate Zephyr off of him, Thalia caught sight of a tanned man standing behind the blond. He had his brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and a scar across the bridge of his nose. He wore the attire of the men that had attacked them outside Mt. Othrys, putting Thalia on edge.

"I'm okay," Naruto said to the man with the cut across his nose. He turned and lightly patted Zephyr on his emblazed neck, "I'm good."

He turned to look at the other three and nodded, "Hey Jay, nice landing."

Jason wiped his hand across his mouth, checking for blood, before flipping the blond off.

"Load of kindness, aren't you?" Naruto mumbled before grinning at Thalia, "Thalia-chan...you flew all the way out here for me?"

"Didn't have much of a choice in the matter," snipped the girl with a frown.

Naruto winced at the tone. He decided to not aggravate his girlfriend further and smiled at Piper, "Did you enjoy the ride, Dove?"

"Your dad told me who my mother is," Piper replied before smiling at Zephyr, "But I did have fun. He's a very good ride and a pretty awesome horse."

Zephyr turned to Naruto, transmitting his thoughts freely to his master, _I like this girl Master. May I give her a gift?_

"You don't need my permission," Naruto replied with a smile. Grinning at the girl, he said, "Hold out your hand. Zephyr has a gift for you."

Piper furrowed her brow in confusion but did as Naruto said, extending her right hand. Then suddenly the space above her hand burst into flame, forging a curved blade about seven inches in length, the handle just two inches long. It was a beautifully golden blade with a Greek sun engraved on either side. Piper held the blade in her hand, running the other over the engraved symbol.

"Well it's almost official now," Naruto said, gaining her attention, "All that's left is the claiming ceremony at Camp Half-Blood."

"Namikaze-sama I must insist we take the intruders in for questioning," A masked warrior said, getting Naruto to look at him.

"Do you remember what happened to Owl when he tried to apprehend me?" Naruto inquired. The warrior nodded his head, prompting Naruto to narrow his gaze into a glare as he continued, "Then you would do best to leave them be. If you so much as look at them wrong, I will put you down. Understand?"

The warriors stiffened at the threat before vanishing in in explosions of smoke. Naruto exhaled in relief and patted the concerned spirit on the head, "I'm alright. Thank you Zephyr, you may leave."

_Cannot leave Master, not again. May I stay, Master?_ Pleaded the fiery horse as it nudged Naruto's hand. The blond demigod's whiskered cheeks pulled back into a grin and he affectionately rubbed the horse spirit on the head.

"Naruto..." began the man that stood behind him. Naruto turned to the man, his hand not leaving Zephyr's head as he did, prompting him to continue, "Who...Who are they?"

* * *

**AN: And so we get another peak at Naruto's past, this time through Jason's eyes. But how did Naruto arrive at Konoha with Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Akamaru? What happened to Owl? What were the reactions of Tsunade and the others? And why didn't UPS deliver my package?**

**To find out there is only one thing left for you to do,**

**REVIEW!**


	13. XIII

**AN: Well after a long argument over the phone with my mother, I learned that she cancelled the parcel. On the plus side, my Amazon deliveries arrived right on time!**

**AN 2: Be sure to check out Engineer4Ever's **_**Reading Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian**_**, now on ch 14!**

**AN 3: Yeah...I rewrote this one. It got weird at the end there.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**XIII**

* * *

As the other three demigods rejoined the blond, Naruto chuckled sheepishly as his class' sensei stared intently at him. Scratching the back of his head, ignoring Zephyr's head butting against his other hand, the blond demigod said, "Heh, sorry about that, Iruka-sensei. These are my friends I was telling you about earlier."

"I see..." the man, Iruka, said with suspicion. He looked from Naruto and back to the others before grinning welcomingly at them, "Well, a friend of Naruto's is a friend of mine. Pleasure to meet you, I am Umino Iruka."

"Iruka Umino," Naruto corrected, "Family name last."

"...Strange," the teacher said as he processed the information. He then looked to the group expectantly. After a moment of awkward silence had passed, Naruto palmed his head and then gestured to each individual.

"This is Thalia Grace, my girlfriend," Naruto said, retrieving his hand from Zephyr's head to put it on Thalia's shoulder.

The daughter of Zeus' eyes widened as she recognized the man's name, "_You're_ the scar-faced teacher that always overreacted to his pranks?"

Iruka sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, "Well...I guess. Though overreacting is a bit of a stretch."

"You tied me up for putting a whoopee cushion on your chair," Naruto deadpanned, making Piper and Jason snicker while Thalia smirked at the thought.

"You tried to use the distraction as a means of escape," Iruka countered.

The blond demigod opened his mouth but sighed as he failed to come up with a good retort. He settled on letting out a defeated "Touché."

"Uh, excuse you?" Iruka unsurely replied, not familiar with the word.

"No, touché is a French word that...never mind, I'll explain it later," Naruto groaned. He then gestured to the other blond of the four teens, "This is her younger brother, Jason Grace."

Jason nodded curtly, uncomfortable in being within a foreign land limiting his response. He had his left hand in his pocket, grasping his coin Julius and rubbing his thumb over it to ease his nerves.

Iruka seemed to notice his tension, simply smiling in a welcoming manner, "Hello Jason-san."

"And finally we have the _charming_ Piper McLean," Naruto introduced the girl with a grin. Piper rolled her eyes before offering her hand to the teacher, who took it with a small smile. He opened his mouth to speak when the bells of the school began to ring, making him groan as he retracted his hand.

"Let's try and meet up after school, maybe you could show your friends around," Iruka suggested. He bowed partially to the group before disappearing back into the building.

"Well, that was a bust. There goes my free ramen," the blond mumbled as he started to walk away from the school. Thalia stopped him, grabbing him by the shoulder and making him pout as she forced him to turn around.

"We _flew_ here to rescue you," Thalia grit out, making Naruto wince at the reminder of her fear. With a glare, she continued, "Why does it look like you _don't_ need rescuing?"

_Ooooo...You gonna be in trouble~!_ Helios sang before he burst into laughter.

_Screw you! _Naruto mentally retorted as he sheepishly laughed. Reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck, his other hand coming up to stop Zephyr from head-butting him again, the blond said, "Guess you got my message then?"

"Yeah, and your dad paid us a visit. He practically ordered us to come here," Thalia continued with narrowed eyes. "Now why is it that you decide to keep lying to me, Naruto?"

"Hey, I never lied to you..." Naruto's argument died as his girlfriend threw a thumb over her shoulder to point at Jason, making his point moot.

_So, where would you like to be buried? Here or New York?_ Helios asked.

_No one asked you!_ Naruto shot back as he started to fumble with sentences. Thalia's eyes narrowed.

"All right then, answer me this: why haven't you tried to escape yet?" she inquired with a bit of bite to her voice.

"Uh...Well, technically, I can leave whenever I want," Naruto replied with a small nervous laugh afterwards. Thalia gave him a glare that could've rivaled her father's when angry and then proceeded to start chewing him out, ranting about how she was forced to fly on an _open_ chariot that she could've fallen off of while he was just wasting time making lunch dates. Piper and Jason watched with wide eyes, as the daughter of Zeus seemed to get bigger while Naruto continued to shrink under her scolding. Even poor Zephyr dimmed at the girl's wrath, ducking behind his terrified master.

Thankfully, just as Thalia lost her first wind, Jason came to his rescue, "Why don't you tell us what happened before we got here?"

"I could kiss you, Jason...Though I think that would start a lot of rumors and/or a fan club," the older blond commented as he pointed at a group of giggling schoolgirls walking past them. Thalia glowered at them, making them rush past even faster, while Jason blinked in confusion. Naruto saw this and continued, "The girls in my homeland have either two settings when it comes to good looking guys kissing: Squeal in ecstasy or rage at the unfairness of the world."

"Sounds like a clique," Piper commented with a bit of annoyance. She didn't have the best experiences with cliques, even before her dad became a big screen star. That and the girls in cliques annoyed the ever-living hell out of her; they were just a bunch of whiney high-pitched idiots.

"Wouldn't know," Naruto shrugged before stumbling as Zephyr butted him in the shoulder. Looking to his steed, Naruto said, "Zephyr, stop doing that. If you want to stick around you have to stop head-butting me."

_Sorry Master,_ the spirit apologized.

"Stop calling me Master," Naruto mumbled as he pat Zephyr on the head.

"Ahem," Thalia cleared her throat to get her boyfriend's attention. Her arms were crossed and she was looking at him expectantly. The son of Apollo sheepishly laughed once more before sighing.

"Alright, it went like this," Naruto began.

* * *

_Kiba glared at Naruto as he began unfolding a large parchment on the ground, "Why isn't he restrained? He's a traitor!"_

_"You want to personally get introduced to the dirt again?" Naruto asked as his brow arched. The dog-like warrior snarled before returning to his task._

_Shikamaru took a drag of his cigarette while he watched Kiba unroll the large parchment, "Last year we got an A-ranked mission. One that came with instructions on how to leave the Elemental Nations."_

_"How?" Naruto asked, "How did you leave?"_

_"There was a cave at the base of the Hokage Monument, leading to the abandoned ROOT headquarters. We found an exit there," Shikamaru explained as he placed a few rocks on the corners of the paper, "Next the exit there was a triangle, which we assumed Danzo had carved into the wall and used to escape trial."_

_"Trial?" Naruto inquired curiously._

_"It appears that Danzo Shimura blackmailed Itachi Uchiha into slaughtering his clan according to the evidence we found," Shikamaru mused aloud, "Making him a traitor to the state since he went against the direct orders of the Sandaime Hokage."_

_"For a shinobi, that was a pretty stupid move," Naruto mused._

_"Agreed," the older shinobi said as he exhaled some smoke, "But I digress. The mission was accepted by Team Gai and Kakashi, with Gai's team staying near the employer while Kakashi's squad explored."_

_"That explains a bit," Naruto mused, "So they were away for what, months?"_

_"It took them about five months to reach their destination," Shikamaru explained, "and none of them remember the original route. The employer wiped it from their minds and the entrance was lost when the ROOT tried to retake their base. Thankfully, Kakashi marked their exit point with a reverse summoning seal, which is where we arrived from."_

_"Where did you arrive?" asked the blond 'prisoner' curiously._

_"A small island with a large empty building on it," replied the smoking shinobi, "It looked like a massive prison."_

_"Alcatraz," Naruto mused, making a note of the location of the seal's location before looking at the one that Kiba unfolded, "So what's this then?"_

_"A similar reverse summoning seal, but this one has a twin ready to go," Shikamaru said, "Kiba, Akamaru, get Choji through first."_

_"Fine," Kiba snapped as he helped his partner get their large friend onto the seal. Their leader knelt down with a hiss at straining his injured leg, placing his hand on the paper and channeling chakra through it. The three on the parchment vanished in a flicker of light, making Naruto hum._

_"Impressive," Naruto admitted as he stepped onto the seal. He yawned and scratched his right cheek, "Can we get a move on before we get spotted? I mean, just because we're being quiet doesn't mean we can't be found."_

_"What, worried your plan might get ruined?" Shikamaru sardonically asked as he pushed himself back onto his feet and stepped on the seal next to the blond._

_"Just shut up and do it," Naruto snapped. Shikamaru shrugged and began expelling chakra throughout the paper, making them flicker before they vanished._

* * *

"Wait," Jason interrupted, "What happened to that giant parchment? We didn't see anything when we searched the camp."

"It's most likely still on the roof of the First Cohort," Naruto replied with a shrug, "Don't worry, I smeared a line with my chakra before I fully vanished. They can't use it."

"So where did you end up?" Piper asked. The blond looked over his shoulder to a large white building.

"There," Naruto answered with a shudder, "The Hospital of Konohagakure no Sato."

* * *

_As soon as they appeared in front of the building, Shikamaru turned to his 'captive' and demanded "What did you do?"_

"_I might've made it so you can't get back into Camp Jupiter," Naruto replied with a shrug._

_Shikamaru said nothing, crossing his arms. Behind him, four animal designed, white mask wearing warriors with light armor appeared, hands on the swords strapped to their back. The leading warrior, Owl, stepped forward and looked at Shikamaru, "(Is this him?)"_

"_Mission accomplished," Shikamaru said in English, reaching into his flak jacket for his pack of smokes. He walked away, looking once more over his shoulder at Naruto, who was scowling in annoyance._

_Owl looked back at Naruto and switched to English dialect, "It is by the order of the Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade that you come with us into custody for questioning."_

"_Ha! I've got two words for that: Fuck. You," Naruto snapped back. Owl reached out to grab Naruto's arm, only for Naruto to grab Owl's wrist hard enough to crack it. The blond pulled Owl close and snarled, "Try to touch me again, and I'll snap your arm in half."_

"_I have orders," Owl retorted, gritting his teeth behind his mask._

"_Sucks for you then," Naruto replied as he tossed Owl's arm away. He turned to walk off when Owl grabbed his shoulder with the same hand. Naruto stopped and looked up, "No one ever listens..."_

_Before Owl could ask what he meant, Naruto had reached over and grabbed Owl's hand. Pulling Owl forward with a rough yank, Naruto dug his shoulder into Owl's armpit before he tugged roughly on the ANBU's arm. A second later, there was a pop and Owl released a scream of pain as his arm was dislocated. The blond then wrapped his other arm around the already dislocated limb and bent the forearm over his own, earning a sickening snap._

_Owl gave an agonizingly pained filled scream, to which Naruto scoffed, "Please, at least it's still attached."_

_He shoved Owl off of him and let the ANBU stumble backward to the ground. His team tensed and moved to attack when Naruto looked at them. A grin spread across his face and he asked, "Do you really want to try and take me on?"_

"_Don't just stand there!" Owl snapped as he back up to a knee, "Arrest-!"_

"_Stuff it!" Naruto interrupted the ANBU with a thrust kick to the chest, kicking him through the side of the white building. When the smoke and dust cleared, the blond demigod was satisfied to see Owl lying on his back on the ground, people gathering around him. Naruto turned back to the ANBU and asked, "Again...Do you __**really**__ want to take me on?"_

_The three ANBU looked ready to attack but were held back by the arrival of another. The man had gravity defying silver hair and his face was hidden by a mask and his headband adorned with the same kanji that Shikamaru, Kiba and Choji had on theirs. The newcomer looked at the ANBU and said, "I've been put in charge of this, you are all dismissed. Go check on Owl."_

_The ANBU shared looks with one another before vanishing in blurs. The man shook his head before turning to Naruto and asking him-_

* * *

"What's up, Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he appeared in a cloud of smoke, a new book on Greek Mythology in his hands. Jason and Piper looked surprised at the arrival while Naruto looked annoyed at being interrupted.

"You!" Thalia exclaimed with shock and anger, getting the younger demigods to look at her. Ignoring them she reached for her mace canister and prepared for a fight, "You're the creep that attacked us outside of Mt. Othrys!"

"Actually I didn't do anything," Kakashi corrected as he looked up from his book. His eye locked on Zephyr and calmly he said, "I don't know if you know this, but your horse is on fire."

"He's a special kind of summon," Naruto explained before asking, "Is she finally ready to see me?"

"She's managed to sober up a bit," Kakashi replied with a shrug, "But you should be warned that her aides are still with her."

"Well, this is going to be fantastic then," the blond groaned. He looked at Zephyr apologetically, "I need you to stay out of sight for a bit, Zephyr. Go wait atop that building."

Zephyr followed his Master's point and then returned his flame filled gaze to Naruto, nodding. Zephyr whinnied and reared back before shooting off into the sky, a trail of fire behind him. Kakashi blinked and shrugged, he'd seen weirder than a fiery horse take off into the sky when he was in the war.

"That...was awesome," Piper said with a grin. Jason nodded and Thalia begrudgingly agreed that the take off looked better when not part of it. The blond sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at Kakashi.

"Let's go get this over with," Naruto said, getting a nod from his former teacher. Kakashi turned around and led the four to a large red building with a pale orange tiling rooftop. It was about sixty feet in height and rounded, giving it a width of, once more, about sixty feet. There was a large circle above the entrance with a strange symbol carved into it. Naruto caught their curious gazes at the symbol and explained, "The kanji for fire, you'll see it a lot because that is the name of this land."

"Hi no Kuni," Thalia muttered, "I remember you telling me about it. I just...never expected it to be so, so green."

"It was named such for the weather," Kakashi answered while turning another page in his book, "Always warm, usually clear skies save for the occasional clouds."

"Here we are," Naruto said as he put his hand on the massive building's door and pushed it open while Kakashi got the other. The three newcomers were surprised that after the door was opened there was a large wall not ten feet from them. Adorning the side of the wall were five large pictures of four men and one woman, more of the strange language written beneath the frames.

"This is the Hokage Mansion," Kakashi explained, "Each Hokage lives here during their role as village leader, and depending on the person it can be either a short stay or one for the rest of their life. From left to right are the first to fifth Hokage: First, Hashirama Senju."

"He doesn't look as serious as he does on the mountain," Naruto mused, referring to the smiling face that greeted every newcomer to the Hokage Mansion.

"Next came his younger brother, Tobirama Senju," Kakashi said, gesturing to the image of the white haired man, "And no, he wasn't old. That's just how his hair was."

"It's normal for people here to have strange colored hair," Naruto explained to the confused Piper and Jason. Thalia recalled the other shinobi she met six months prior and shuddered at the thought of the girl with pink hair. That was _natural_?

"After him came the First's student, Hiruzen Sarutobi," the aloof shinobi said as he pointed at the slightly older looking man with a pointed goatee. Naruto smiled fondly at the picture, remembering the last few years of his pseudo-grandfather's life.

"And then came-" "Naruto's dad," Thalia cut Kakashi off, glaring at the blond with a small smile on his face. Jason whistled in awe while Piper gaped. The daughter of Aphrodite looked to the son of Apollo, getting a shake of the head, stating that now was not the time for answers of the Greek variety.

"I was going to say my sensei," Kakashi grumbled, making Thalia swivel her gaze to him in surprise while Naruto's eyes rolled.

"Something that would've been _awesome_ to know while training," the blond said, getting a deadpanned look from the man.

"You wouldn't shut up about it if I had said anything," retorted the silver haired masked man. Naruto stuck his tongue out childishly at the accurate reply. So what if he had idolized the fourth before discovering his true identity? It wasn't that bad.

"And the last one?" Jason asked. Kakashi cleared his throat and prepared to speak when a woman's shout in a foreign language cut him off.

"(THEY'RE LATE!)"

"Is waiting for us," Naruto said with a smirk. He gestured to the stairs on the left and the four followed him up. After what felt like an hour of stair climbing, Kakashi finally broke away from the layers of stairs, leading them to another set of double doors that he opened. What was revealed made the three foreigners blink in surprise.

It was a massive office with a couch to the far left, the same images in the welcoming hall on the wall above it. On the opposite wall was a large bookcase filled to the brim with its namesake. The large windows straight ahead of them gave a fantastic view of the large city-like village, which seemed to go on forever from where they stood. In front of the windows was a desk and standing on either side of the desk were two women.

One looked very plain, yet pretty in the same manner that most secretaries did. Two kind black eyes looked in their direction, matching her shoulder length black hair. She wore a solid black yakuta with white lining. Sandaled heels covered her feet and in her arms was a...pig wearing a pearl necklace and vest?

That was hardly the strangest thing, as the other aide had bright _pink_ hair, cut to the same length. Thalia immediately recognized her as one of the four that had attacked them outside of Mt. Othrys and it put her on edge. In order to keep her cool and not attack the pink-haired weirdo, she shifted her gaze to the last woman at the same time that Piper and Jason did.

The three demigods from the United States felt their eyes widen at the sight of the woman that sat behind the desk. She had pale blonde hair with shoulder length bangs, honey brown eyes that were narrowed in their direction and in the center of her forehead was a purple diamond.

However, what surprised them the most was everything below her face, primarily the massive mounds on her chest. The image in the hallway was cut off at the Hokages' necks, leaving her chest size a mystery. So the sight of the pale blonde woman's watermelons –still thankfully covered by her grey kimono and green jacket– threw them for a loop.

Piper was wondering how that was anatomically possible, considering their size in comparison to the woman's head was only less by a margin.

Thalia was too shocked to even think coherently, though she did wonder what Tsunade did to get them that big.

Jason, being a hormonal young teenage male, just thought one word as his face lit up bright red: _Damn._

The three were shaken from their stupor when the woman grabbed the stapler on her desk and chucked it towards them. Naruto's hand shot up and caught it before it could hit him in the face, lowering it with a look of annoyance on his face. Tossing the impromptu weapon back, the Guardian asked, "What did I do to earn a stapler being thrown at my face?"

"You know damn well what you did!" the woman retorted with a glare, "Explanations are well overdue, Brat!"

"I have a name, _Baa-chan_," Naruto shot back with a frown as he crossed his arms.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "Alright then, _Namikaze_-"

"Uzumaki," corrected the blond as he stepped further into the room. Thalia, Jason and Piper all exchanged glances before following his example and walking in. This earned the woman's attention.

"Who the hell are they?" she asked.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "They are my team."

"You already have a team, idiot!" the pink-haired woman shouted while the woman behind the desk and the other aide gained baffled looks.

"That team broke up more than ten years ago, Sakura," Naruto snapped, "When the Uchiha shoved his hand through my chest!"

"But you-!" "Just save it. I'm not here to talk to you," Naruto cut Sakura's retort off before looking at the woman behind the desk. Standing in front of the desk at attention, Naruto said, "I have to resign."

You could hear a pin drop twice over it became so quiet. The dark haired aide was the first of the four natives to recover, "N-Naruto you can't be serious!"

The blond demigod sighed and felt the depression build up within him as he addressed her.

"Dead serious, Shizune," Naruto said to the woman, making her fumble her arms as she nearly dropped the pig, "Careful, don't drop Ton-Ton."

"Explain. Now," Tsunade curtly said once she recovered from her shock.

"It's too difficult to explain and you wouldn't believe it if I told you," the blond sighed out, "Just let me resign."

"It's not that simple, brat!" Tsunade snapped, "Eight years ago you would have never said the word _resign_. Hell, I was under the assumption you didn't know what it meant."

"I know what the word means," Naruto said in annoyance as he put his hands on her desk, "Gods dammit, do you know how hard this is for me? I don't want to sever my connection here but you are forcing my hand by sending people after me! I have a different contract I am obligated to fulfill, and dammit you are going to sign your own death warrant if you keep trying to take me away from it!"

"What the hell are you talking about, brat? Talk with some sense!" Tsunade demanded.

Naruto grabbed at his head with a groan before recomposing himself. Taking a deep breath, the blond calmly said, "I am Naruto Uzumaki, son of Apollo, God of the Sun."

The room was once again speechless. There was a thump and Piper turned to see Kakashi with his book holding hand empty, the book on the ground. The first to recover this time was the Hokage, who grabbed the blond's shirt and pulled him down to look her in the eye.

"Who told you that load of bullshit?" Tsunade asked with narrowed eyes, "Your father's name was Minato Namikaze."

"Which was an alias of Apollo's," replied the blond, "I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

"Because it's a load of horseshit," snapped the Hokage. Naruto glared at her, since he couldn't lie and that even trying to would get him even further interrogated, and she glared back in disbelief.

The two remained silent after that exchange, glaring at each other. Their contest of wills was broken when the doors were thrown open and two old people, a man and woman, entered. They both had long white robes on and the scowl of a tired warrior on their faces. The woman smiled lightly in Naruto's direction before looking to Tsunade, "Congratulations Tsunade-sama, you've brought our village's hero home. Now, we must prepare him for-"

"Hold it there, Grandma," Naruto interjected with a scowl, "Last I checked this was a private meeting."

"A meeting for what?" the woman asked briskly.

"My resignation," Naruto nonchalantly replied.

The two looked aghast at the sentence before the old man stepped forward, "Now see here, you fool! You are our Jinchuriki, our strongest defense and like your mother you will do your duty!"

"You do _not_ talk about my mother!" Snarled the blond, focusing his Killing Intent on the elders, "You don't even _think_ about my mother, do you understand me?!"

"We have ways of making you cooperate," the man said. He looked to the sole shinobi in the room and said, "Get Yamato in here!"

"So he can do what? Grow a tree around me? What good would that do?" Naruto retorted with a snort. He grabbed the edge of his shirt and lifted it up, revealing his bare and toned stomach to the room. The blond then , "See this? I'm flaring my chakra and _nothing_ is showing up. What does that tell you?"

"Where is the Kyubi, boy?" the old woman demanded once she had recovered from her stunned state. "It is the weapon of Konohagakure no Sato-!"

"The hell it is! I don't remember hearing about anyone other than an Uzumaki being able to handle the Kyubi, if it should belong to anyone, it's me!," He rounded back on the old man and jabbed his finger into the elder's chest with each word, "So _Fuck_! _You_!"

"You don't have the right to do this! The power of the Kyubi no Kitsune belongs to Konoha!" The elder retorted, "We were given it by the Shodai Hokage."

"He didn't have the right to disperse the biju to begin with and probably regretted doing so after it happened. In my opinion, the Kyubi belongs to whomever it wants to belong to, and if you can't accept it then tough tits!" Naruto shot back, his bracelet gleaming unnoticed in the bright room. The demigods were standing in a stunned silence; Piper at the way the blond continued to rant, and the two Grace siblings at how volatile Naruto could be when he wanted to.

"So there!" Naruto finished by crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at the two elders, giving them a raspberry. The others in the room resisted the urge to palm their own faces at his sudden jump to a childish response. The elders on the other hand were furious, both red faced and embarrassed at being refused a vital asset.

The woman began again, "Namikaze-sama, we need the Kyubi in the upcoming war-!"

"Don't make me kill you, because I will if you keep pushing me," Naruto cut her off, "I'll make what I did to Danzo look like child's play in comparison."

The two immediately narrowed their eyes, "You lie!"

"Nope!" Naruto shot back with a smirk as his unique eyes gleamed, "I blew his head the _fuck_ up. It was _all_ over the walls...brains, eye, Sharingan eye."

That certainly got the two to frown as they quickly left the room, Naruto's threat still hanging in the air and fresh in their minds. The rest of the silent room stared at the tense blond like he was a bomb waiting to go off. After the doors closed with a slam, Naruto turned back to Tsunade and pulled the metal clip from his belt, slamming the insignia face down into the Hokage's desk.

"I. Resign." Naruto stated firmly. Tsunade stared down at the forehead protector in horror. When she got word that Naruto refused to come home, she wouldn't believe it. She never once expected him to be serious about this, that maybe it was all leading up to a grand prank of some sort.

When he started to rant nonsense, Tsunade understood that it was happening, that Naruto was severing his ties with the village. Still, a part of her wouldn't back down. In a desperate attempt to keep a strong warrior, and a pseudo son, in her village, Tsunade looked back up at the whiskered teen and asked, "What about your dream to be Hokage?"

As he brought his hand back, Naruto stiffened at the question. His unique sun-filled eyes gave her a look that made Tsunade realize this was a lost cause, and his words only cemented that; "I wanted to be Hokage primarily for acknowledgement, so that people would see me and not my burden. I have found a way to achieve it outside of here, why would I want to leave that behind?"

With a smile that lit up the room he continued, "I even found someone that will go against the odds to stand at my side. Someone I could spend the rest of my life with."

Thalia's cheeks dusted pink, but a small smile came to her face. She was still mad at him, there was no doubt about that, but that line? Her knucklehead could be real smooth when he wanted to be.

"I suppose there's no delaying it any further," Tsunade reluctantly sighed out, "Sakura, go and get Genin Uzumaki's file."

"Tsunade-sama you can't seriously be thinking about accepting his resignation!" Shizune said with wide eyes. Sakura had a matching look on her face, whereas Kakashi, who picked his book back up, had gained a small look of depressed acceptance. He had hoped that Naruto might want to return, but as long as the blond was happy then there was nothing more he could ask for.

The Godaime Hokage shifted her gaze from the blond to her loyal aide, "Do you think I want to? Unfortunately, the law is the law and as a genin, Naruto has the right to resign from his post without question."

Looking back at the blond demigod, Tsunade asked, "Is there anything else, Uzumaki-san?"

"There is one more thing," Naruto said as he reached into his back pouch and pulled out a vial of green and black liquid. Placing it on the desk, Naruto said, "I need a cure for this."

"You have balls to ask me for a favor after what you just did, you brat," replied the Hokage with a frown, "Why should I waste my time on a little vial you claim has a disease?"

"You owe me," simply replied the blond.

"And how the _hell_ do you figure that?!" Tsunade snapped, making the demigods cringe at the anger and look at the blond. Surprisingly, he kept his cool rather than explode like he did moments ago.

"Would you even be in this village if it weren't for me and Ero-Sannin?" Naruto asked as a brow quirked.

"Don't you bring him into this! And that's irrelevant to the point," Tsunade argued.

"Is it?" Naruto asked as he looked to Shizune, "Shizune, if we never came and retrieved you and Tsunade, where would you be in ten years? Enjoying a free life without worrying about debt collectors catching up to you and your hung over teacher?"

"W-Well," Shizune shifted uncomfortably as all eyes went to her. In defeat, she hung her head and softly answered, "No."

Naruto looked back at Tsunade, getting an annoyed growl from the pale blonde. Before either of them could speak, Sakura interrupted and said, "Shishou doesn't have to do you a favor, Idiot!"

The blond demigod snapped a glare onto her form, "I wasn't talking to you. Weren't you supposed to be getting my files anyway?"

Sakura looked livid, but a stern glare from Tsunade, who realized that Naruto had a point with his question, had forced her to keep her mouth shut. As she left the office in a huff, Sakura sent brief looks of anger to the three demigods, considering it their fault that Naruto had changed.

With the pink haired woman out of the office, Naruto looked back at Tsunade and said, "If there is anything left of the Uzumaki in you, you will help me. If not for your kin, then for the girl who is stricken with this disease that I promised I would cure."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, "'A little girl?'"

"It's her blood that is set before you," the blond informed the medical genius.

"You'd better not be making this up," crisply warned the Hokage.

"I swear on my mother's name that it is a patient in need of desperate help. If it were anything else, I wouldn't have bothered coming back," Naruto replied. He hoped the play on Tsunade's maternal instincts and her pride as a doctor would sway this in his favor. If not, well, then he can kiss Bianca goodbye as well as his soul for eternal damnation. Hades was very, _very_ protective of his children and very bitter to those that failed him.

Tsunade kept a hard gaze locked on Naruto before looking down at the green liquid within the vial he had set before her. She grabbed it and held it up to her eye with a scrutinizing gaze before looking back up at him.

"I'll do it," Tsunade said as she put down the vial and pointed at him, "But this is the last thing I'm doing for you, Brat."

Naruto smiled in relief and bowed his head. Quietly so that only the woman before him could hear, he affectionately said, "Arigato Baachan."

"Yeah, yeah, just get out of here before I change my mind," waved off the woman. Naruto stood upright before turning to leave. He nodded to the demigods and they followed him, making Tsunade's brow furrow. After the four teens had left the room, Tsunade spoke to the man reading in the corner, "Kakashi, keep your eye on them. They have something to do with this."

"The older girl was one of the few Team Kakashi faced in the Foreign Land," chimed in the jonin informatively, "She and Naruto seem close."

"Watch them," Tsunade said as her eyes went back to the vial in her hand. The silver haired shinobi vanished in an explosion of smoke without another word. With honey brown eyes narrowing on the dark green and black liquid, Tsunade mumbled, "Just what has that brat been up to?"

* * *

**AN: Ah, a much better update in my opinion. Longer, better ending, got rid of the rant that was not my own (thanks for letting me use that Eng), and I think I managed to set a new standard for how fast my chill leaves. Well, next time I guess we'll find out how the rest of Konoha takes to the newcomers. Will I be able to get to the-oh, wait I asked that already. Will the next chapter be as long as this one was?  
**

**Guess we'll find out next time:**

**REVIEW!**


	14. XIV

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril**

**XIV**

* * *

Naruto exited the Hokage Mansion with a light smile on his face, "Well, that went better than I expected it to."

"What did you expect?" Jason asked, "Jail time?"

"More like downright execution," Naruto replied with a shrug, "I certainly earned it. It was probably my personal history with Tsunade that saved me from that."

"What was that thing you called her?" Piper asked curiously as they started to walk through the village, "Baachan...what does that mean?"

"Baachan is the equivalent to 'Old Lady'," once again shrugged the eldest blond present, making the two younger demigods look at him like he was crazy. The woman didn't look any older than thirty, thirty-five at best.

As they turned down a fenced pathway that would take them back to the Academy, Jason scrutinized the teen with an odd look, "You have issues with authority, don't you?"

"Are you just now noticing?" Naruto retorted with a roll of his eyes.

_It's going to get you killed one day,_ Helios said chidingly.

_It'll be worth it,_ shot back the incarnation as a smirk crossed his face. Piper and Jason walked behind the older two demigods, taking in the sights and slowing down their pace consequently. The blond looked to his girlfriend, who was now walking along his left side, and lightly nudged her arm, "You're awfully quiet."

Thalia simply gave him a look from the corner of her eye and then returned her gaze forward. Naruto frowned at the raven-haired girl's cold shoulder, prompting him to look ahead before he spoke again, "I know that no amount of apologies could ever make what I did right, Thalia-chan. Nothing I say can make this better, we both know that. Just know that even if you decide to hate me forever, I will still love you."

Thalia turned to look at her boyfriend, opening and closing her mouth to say something. Gods, why did he have to have such a silver tongue? Then again, he had a really skilled tongue if their make-out sessions were anything to go by—she was getting off track. She opened her mouth to really talk, in order to get off what was on her chest.

Before Thalia could even begin, a familiar annoying voice addressed the blond first, "Naruto!"

The four demigods stopped walking and turned around to see the pink-haired aide running towards them. Naruto groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as the woman came to a stop in front of them.

"Why did you resign?" Sakura demanded.

Moving to stand in front of the other three, Naruto defended himself, "I told you. I have other duties as the son of Apollo."

The pink-haired woman growled, "Don't be an idiot, Naruto. There is no God of the Sun!"

_Oh, that little bitch! If I still had a physical body and most of my godly power I would smite the holy Tartarus out of her!_ Helios began to rage.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Naruto mumbled as he reached up to rub his head from the headache Helios was giving him.

"What kind of idiot believes they're the child of a god?" continued Sakura.

"I dunno, maybe the same kind of idiot who promises to risk his life to save someone that doesn't want to be saved?" snidely replied the blond.

"You were trying to help your friend!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah, and he put his fist through my fucking lung in return!" Naruto said with narrowed eyes, "_After_ I forced him to miss my heart!"

"He was under the influence of the curse mark," Sakura argued.

"I beg to differ," retorted the son of Apollo, "He seemed pretty coherent when he was driving my skull through the ground from _fifty_ feet in the air!"

"This isn't like you!" Sakura announced, "The Naruto I knew wouldn't just abandon his friends for a bunch of delusional kids!"

Jason, Piper and Thalia all glared at the woman for her response. Thalia pushed forward to stand next to Naruto, speaking for the first time since leaving the Hokage's office with an angry tone, "Who are you calling a kid?"

"Just stay out of this," Sakura snapped with a glare at the raven-haired girl, "You're part of the reason he's acting so...so...stupid!"

"Maybe he's uncomfortable around the girl that used to brain him twenty four seven to compensate for her boardwalk sized forehead!" Thalia shot back.

"Who do you think you are?" demanded the pink-haired medic with narrowed green eyes locked on the slightly shorter girl's form. Her eyes drifted down briefly and narrowed even further in slight jealousy before moving back up to meet the electric blue that were glaring at her.

Thalia crossed her arms over her chest and replied, "I'm the idiot's girlfriend."

"_You_?" Sakura repeated in disbelief. After looking her over once again the pink-haired woman looked at Naruto and said, "Didn't think you went for them that young, pervert."

"She's actually nineteen," Naruto corrected with a frown at the shot at his girlfriend and himself.

"And she is standing right here," Thalia interjected with a scowl. Naruto wisely shut up, Sakura however, did not catch the hint.

"Why don't you go run along and look around?" Sakura snorted out as she cracked her knuckles and turned to Naruto, "I have some unfinished business to deal with. Konoha business."

"What, you too afraid to get your ass handed to you with an audience?" Thalia said with a smirk, "Just like he did back at Mt. Othrys?"

Sakura seemed to falter at that before regaining her fire, "Didn't I see you run away on that sleigh?"

Naruto winced and Thalia growled before speaking again, "At least I'm not mistaken for being a boy."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" the pink-haired medic asked dangerously.

"Uh, Thalia-chan?" Naruto said, putting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, "I think you've made your point."

"No, don't make her stop now, Naruto!" said Sakura as she glared at Thalia, who returned it with equal amounts of anger, "Let her explain herself."

"What's to explain?" Thalia countered, "You're flatter than a board!"

Sakura clenched her fist and glared at the raven-haired girl as her face turned red in embarrassment. So she was lacking in the chest area, so what? That didn't give this...this...little bitch the right to call her out on it.

Before she knew it, Sakura had thrown a punch charged with all the chakra that was needed for an **Okashou** right at the girl's face. Another hand caught hers and she felt herself get shoved back to the ground. Looking up she saw that it was Naruto who had caught her fist, his body engulfed in golden flames.

"Naruto, you jackass!" Sakura screamed at the blond as she got back to her feet.

"_I said I wasn't here to deal with you, but it looks like I don't have a choice. The second you attacked Thalia-chan, you forced my hand,_" Naruto said as he looked at the pink-haired woman. As his eyes narrowed, he raised his left hand and snapped his fingers.

After seconds passed, Sakura looked at him and asked, "What was the point of that, your useless finger snap?"

Her eyes widened and Naruto grinned foxily as his golden flames flickered out. Sakura tried again, "You think you've won, there's no evidence as to what you've done! What is wrong with me, why do all my sentences end poetically?"

_This. Is. Hilarious,_ Helios said before bursting into laughter. Behind Naruto, the three demigods began to do the same.

"Yeah, enjoy that," the blond said to the increasingly red faced kunoichi, "It should wear off in a few days, a week at the most."

"A week at the most, this had better wear off Uzumaki or you're going to be toast!" raged the pink-haired woman as he turned away. Frustrated, Sakura stood and tried to rush Naruto from behind only to get stopped as Thalia drove her own fist into the woman's gut. The wind was knocked out of her, making Sakura double over. For good measure, Thalia added a sparking punch right to her protected forehead, making the pink-haired medic's head snap back as she fell to the ground once more.

Piper giggled, "Talk about a Thunderpunch."

"It was super effective," Jason commented with a wince as he thought about how the metal on the woman's head had to conduct the electricity through it. Piper burst into laughter and Jason furrowed his brow, "What's so funny?"

"Thunderpunch, super effective?" Piper giggled out, shoving the boy lightly, "Good one."

"Good what?" the confused teenager asked. The girl giggled again before looking at the genuine confusion on Thalia's brother's face.

"Wow...You're really sheltered, aren't you?" Piper said in astonishment.

As Piper explained the unintentional joke Jason made, Naruto looked at his girlfriend and asked, "Was that necessary?"

"No," Thalia admitted as she rolled her wrist, "but it felt _really_ good."

_Talk about a mean right hook,_ Helios commented before wondering aloud, _That reminds me, I wonder how the kids are taking it back at camp._

_I'm sure they're just relaxing after a hard day of training,_ Naruto thought as he waved the concern off.

* * *

Annabeth and her group had exited the Labyrinth moments ago to a giant desert, and after walking across what Grover revealed to be a cattle grate, found a herd of Apollo's red cattle. It revealed that they were on a ranch of some sort. Soon enough they met the owner of the ranch, a man with three chests noticeable by the three different colored shirts, two arms and humongous legs covered by Levis that would give redwood trees a run for their money. A tanned head sat on the center of the three chests, black hair slicked back and a pencil thin mustache above his lips.

He said his name was Geryon.

Apparently, Geryon was a businessman who cared only for money, evident by the poor conditions some of the other caged animals were in, much to Grover's ire. He reminded the original members of the quest for the Master Bolt and Nico of Hades' ferryman, Chiron. He was just a sly, too, convincing to let them pass without alerting the Titan's forces if one of them performed a task of Heracles': Cleaning his carnivorous' steeds' stables. Percy volunteered, figuring that his lineage with the God of the Seas would help in the task. As soon as Percy was led away, the others met the immortal son of Ares and Geryon's herdsman, Eurytion. He was a tall, muscled cowboy with white hair and a thick white beard that made him look like Father Time, if Father Time had decided to move to Texas. After a pleasant chat, Eurytion surprised the rest of the group and bound them tightly in ropes.

"When I get out of this, you're gonna be sorry!" Nico raged as he struggled with his binds. He then grumbled under his breath, "I can't believe Percy is escaping this because he's scooping poop!"

"They all say that," Eurytion grumbled as he rolled his eye, dropping Grover next to a whimpering Tyson.

"Are you using Apollo's cattle to feed monsters for the Crooked One?" Annabeth asked as she watched one of the red cows chew on grass. Eurytion shifted uncomfortably as he looked up, making Annabeth gape, "You are?"

"It's the finest source of meat on the planet," Eurytion mumbled with an uncomfortable shrug, "And it's not like I have any choice in the matter."

"Choice in what matter?" Geryon asked as he walked back to the group. Eurytion went quiet as his boss returned, prompting the rancher to jerk his head in the cattle's direction, "Don't you have a job to do?"

"Sorry boss," the son of Ares grumbled as he walked away.

Geryon shook his head, "That buffoon...Takes after his father, that one."

"You're feeding Apollo's cattle to the Titan Army?!" Annabeth asked him while shifting in her binds. Her hands reached for a hidden kunai in her jeans' belt loop, concealed by her shirt. Nico and Grover saw the handle and started to struggle with their own binds, covering their slight movement towards their quest leader in an effort to hide her plan.

Geryon looked at the blonde girl with a smirk, "What? Are you going to tell him through prayer? If the God of Prophecy doesn't know by now that I'm feeding his cattle to the Titans in return for payment, then he deserves the accusations that he is an imbicile."

"And what about his kids?" Annabeth prompted, "What are you going to do when they find out?"

"Most of his children hold little love for him," scoffed the monster nonchalantly.

"You obviously haven't met Naruto then," Grover snorted.

Nico grinned and continued, "Yeah, he may make fun of his dad, but there's no one Naruto looks to more for guidance."

"Who is this Naruto?" Geryon asked haughtily, "Another child of a no-named whore?"

"You take that back!" Nico shouted angrily. Kushina was as close as a second mother he was going to get since Persephone didn't get along with him or Bianca well. Even if she was a slave driver when it came to training.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Annabeth clarified, making the monster pause in thought, "You may know him as the Heir of Helios."

Geryon looked slightly unruffled, quickly recomposing himself, "W-Well...It's a good thing he won't find out, seeing as you'll soon enough be in the Titans' hands."

"Not if Percy completes his task," Annabeth retorted. She had managed to unsheathe the kunai Naruto had given her, her secondary weapon in case she ever dropped Luke's dagger. Looking past Geryon for a moment, she caught sight of Eurytion putting their gathered weapons into a shed filled to the brim with others.

Geryon laughed before leaning down to get in the daughter of Athena's face, "Who said anything about letting you go if he does the task? I never swore on the Styx. Why should I keep my word?"

"You worthless piece of-!" "Watch your tone, _demigod_," Geryon warned Nico with narrowed eyes, "The 'protection' of your parents does not stand here. All that's keeping you alive right now is your value. And frankly, I decide that value."

As she glared at the monster, Annabeth managed to cut her wrists free, and now slowly started working on the rope around her arms and torso. She cut all ropes but one before shifting her arms in an attempt to loosen the binds. To throw Geryon off his guard, Annabeth asked, "What if I told you I could summon the Heir of Helios?"

"You lie!" Geryon snapped, looking unruffled once again at the thought of being discovered.

"I'm not," the young blonde daughter of Athena retorted, "Just one word and he'll be here faster than you can say size triple XL!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I don't have to," Annabeth announced, "I can take you myself!"

Before Geryon could come up with a witty reply, Annabeth snapped the last rope and freed herself, using her newfound freedom to attack the three-chested monster. Her first strike was a cut to his left leg, making Geryon cry out in shock. The blonde girl used his shocked state to run towards the shed that was overflowing with weapons.

"Eurytion!" Geryon called for his herdsman, "Kill the girl!"

Eurytion looked to where he last saw Annabeth, who had ducked into the shed, before looking back at his boss. With a scowl, he pointed at Geryon and said, "Hell no. You keep sending me out to do your dirty work. Picking fights for no good reason and making me finish it for you. Well I'm done dying for you. You want the girl dead? Do it yourself."

Geryon's eyes narrowed and he called out, "Orthus!"

A massive two-headed dog that looked like a Doberman came from the herd, both heads had their ears up, with the left head having its tongue out. It went to Eurytion's side, getting an affectionate pat on the head from the immortal half-blooded son of Ares. Geryon gained a look of annoyance and pointed at Annabeth, who had returned from the shed with a belted pouch she was adjusting around her waist.

"Orthus! Kill that girl!" the rancher insisted.

"Don't do it, Orthus," Eurytion cut in before the dual headed dog would do just that, "This is Geryon's fight."

Looking at his boss, the son of Ares warned, "If you try and chicken out again, we'll help _her_ against _you_."

Geryon scowled at the threat and opened his mouth to retort. Instead of a sneering warning, the three-chested monster let out a cry of pain, reaching up and grabbing at his shoulder. He pulled out a rather lengthy throwing knife he had taken from a lost demigod who was long since dead, a daughter of Hermes if he recalled correctly. Snapping his small eyes on the blonde haired girl, Annabeth merely reached into the pouch once more, pulling out several similar blades in her hand.

"You do realize that this means nothing," Geryon sneered as he tossed the blade to the ground. The hole in his far right shoulder closed shut and the monster smirked, "I cannot be defeated so easily, girlie. My three hearts are the ultimate backup system, and it would take a miracle for such a small frail thing like you to stop me."

Annabeth's eye twitched at the claim and she gave the monster a grimace before throwing her knives once again, this time aiming for his head. One grazed his left ear while the monster's hands caught the other two. He tossed the blades down and gave another smug grin.

_Okay Annabeth, what do we know about him?_ Annabeth asked herself as she threw another knife at Geryon's chest, _he heals fast. He has three hearts, large legs and he's very slow. Obviously relies on regeneration if his taunts are anything to go by. So that means he's trying to make me tire myself out. Smart. So I can't trick him into killing himself like I could a bad cyclops or another mindless monster. What does that leave me then?_

Geryon got tired of having to remove knives from his body and began stalking towards the daughter of Athena. Annabeth took note of this and reached into the pouch once more.

_This pouch doesn't feel like its losing knives like it should be,_ Annabeth thought with mild confusion. She looked to the knives scattered across the ground and her eyes widened when one flashed before disappearing and a bit of weight was added to her pouch. A grin spread across Annabeth's face, _Never-ending knife pouch? Oh, Naruto is going to be so jealous._

Annabeth's grin vanished when she had to move out of the way of a swipe from the towering Geryon, rushing past him into the herd of red cattle. Eurytion and Orthus both moved out of the snarling Geryon's way as he stormed after her, the immortal demigod having a smug smirk on his face.

Annabeth came to a stop behind a grazing cow, panting and trying to regain her breath from the run into the herd. She pulled another throwing knife out and slowly peaked out from her hiding spot. Geryon was turning and snarling, shoving Apollo's cattle out of his way as he failed to find the blonde girl.

_There's no way I could bring him down with a guerrilla tactic,_ mused the daughter of Athena, _If this were any other enemy I would keep moving and throwing knives from behind different cows, but that won't work on him. I need to take out all three of his hearts in a quick and successive manner. If I had a bow I'd ask Apollo and Artemis for help...Wait. That's it! Three hearts, three blades in quick succession should do it. But I have to get all the shots in at the same time from the same angle._

Stepping out from her current hiding spot, Annabeth called out, "Geryon!"

The monster swiveled from his place and snarled, "There you are! Are you finally ready to die?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Annabeth retorted with a frown as she readied a knife in her right hand.

"Adorable, but sooner or later you're going to run out of knives," Geryon sneered, "Just surrender and I'll make it as painless as possible."

"_The worst thing you could do in life is give up,"_ Naruto said from a memory of their journey across country, which prompted Annabeth's eyes to harden into a cold steel shade of grey. Without another word, Annabeth pulled her right hand over her left shoulder. Closing her eyes for a split second, Annabeth prayed, _Apollo, Artemis, please make my aim true._

The knife left her hand after her eyes snapped open. A second knife left her left hand as the empty right pulled out another. The third knife flew from the daughter of Athena's grasp a second and a half behind the second knife. Annabeth watched in what seemed like slow motion as the knives struck their marks, the left chest being struck dead center, followed by the right and then finishing with the center.

Geryon's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards. The monster looked down at his chest, the knives buried into each one with only half of the handles sticking out. Shakily, Geryon looked back at the equally surprised Annabeth, before stumbling backwards and falling to the ground. His hand lifted once more and he watched it as it slowly dissolved away into golden dust.

Annabeth slowly felt a small grin spread across her face as Geryon dissolved into golden dust. Her grin fell as she walked forward and found nothing left behind. Nothing but the knives she had used to kill him. They vanished in a small flash of light, and she felt the weight return to the pouch on her hip. The daughter of Athena continued to smile after she returned to the other side of the cattle pen, eyeing Eurytion warily.

The son of Ares gave her a grin and pat one of Orthus' heads, "Don't worry about us. Geryon lost, you're free to go."

"What about Percy?" Annabeth asked with a frown.

"What about me?" Percy asked as he walked into the area from the stables. Looking at the three still tied up and back to Annabeth and Eurytion, the son of Poseidon asked, "Did I miss something?"

"You have no idea, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth as her head shook.

"This is a nice outcome and all, but could someone untie us before we burn in the sun?" Nico asked with a hint of annoyance.

Once the other three members of the quest had been released from their binds, Eurytion offered to make them a meal in order to make up for the ordeal and to thank Annabeth for the idea of how to shift the ranch into his favor. They declined the meal, but agreed to a small snack and soda, allowing Percy to relax and tell them about his completed labor. When that was all said and done, Percy looked to Annabeth and asked, "So how did you kill Geryon?"

"Three knives to the hearts," she answered with a shrug, "With a little help from Naruto's Dad and Artemis."

"So the rumors are true about Helios' Heir?" Eurytion asked, leaning forward with a curious look on his face, "A demigod who holds the soul of the Fallen God?"

"More than true," Percy said as he took a sip of the Mountain Dew he was given, "Helios actually speaks to him."

Eurytion whistled and sat back in his seat, "That's a game changer...two souls in one body? Wonder what that's like."

"Apparently, really loud," Nico chimed in, recalling moments in January when Naruto would randomly just shout at nothing, claiming to be arguing with Helios. It stopped shortly after Bianca fell ill, but it was amusing when it happened.

"I would think so," Eurytion mused. He turned to Annabeth and asked, "Did Chiron teach you to throw like that?"

"Naruto did," Annabeth replied with a small smile, "He gave me the foundation of what I know today about combat."

"Really?" Nico asked curiously.

"Tell us about it!" Grover said eagerly. He loved hearing about his old group's earlier days. Eurytion scratched one of Orthus' heads as he listened intently, and Percy put his drink down, looking to the sole girl at the table.

As she pulled a knife out of the pouch on her hip, Annabeth thought about the first night Naruto had shown her, Thalia and Luke how to properly throw a kunai. The first night she and Thalia actually had more than a few words with each other. She spoke softly to the group sitting at the table, "It was the night after we escaped the Colchis Bull."

* * *

_"Why would I want to throw my only weapon?" Luke asked with a furrowed brow as Naruto helped Annabeth properly grip the knife._

_He had made it known that he did not agree with this lesson, that maybe turns with Naruto's bow would be more beneficial. Naruto had told him in response that no one but he was to touch the bow, because of the enchantment upon it. Annabeth knew it existed; she once touched it while Naruto slept and became ill for a day. From then on, Naruto kept a close eye on his bow, going as far as to sling it over his shoulder every time he went to sleep._

_"It may not be your only weapon forever," Naruto replied with a sigh as he ducked under another throw from their resident lightning user, "Thalia-chan, how many times to I have to tell you to grip it firmly but lightly?"_

_"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Thalia retorted with a frown._

_Naruto looked at his fellow blonde with a grin, "What's the count, Annie?"_

_"Thirty-seven," Annabeth said with a smile to her pseudo-brother._

_Thalia rolled her eyes at the two. Annabeth nearly always sided with Naruto in their arguments, unless it was silly or stupid. She also noticed that Annabeth seemed to smile every time that Naruto successfully annoyed her._

_"Guess it'll take more than thirty-seven, Tha-lia-chan," Naruto said with a smirk to the younger girl, who quickly averted her gaze. Annabeth frowned slightly, her finger slipping and accidently cutting herself on the blade._

_"Ow!" She called out, dropping the kunai that was in her hand to the ground._

_"Careful," Naruto warned as he returned his attention to the younger blonde. He knelt down and picked the small onyx colored blade up, putting the knife away. Checking her finger wound, the older blond smiled softly at Annabeth, "It's just a small cut. Should be all better if you just wrap it up."_

_"What about an anesthetic?" Luke asked, "It could get infected."_

_Naruto shook his head in disagreement, "Not if we wash it off first. C'mon, Annie there's a stream over here we can clean it at."_

_Naruto led Annabeth to the stream and gently guided her finger to the water. She hissed in pain as the water coursed over it, and did so once again when Naruto blew lightly on the cut to dry the damp finger. From his shirt, Naruto tore a piece of cloth and wrapped it tightly around the injury. Thalia and Luke, who followed the other two demigods, were silent in awe at the care Naruto showed to the younger blonde girl's finger._

_Tying off the cloth, Naruto grinned at Annabeth and pat her on the head, "See? Easy fix."_

_Annabeth smiled at him thankfully, throwing her arms around his neck and surprising him with a tight hug. Naruto hugged the girl back, his smile still in place._

_"Aw, look at you," Luke teased, "Just a lovable old teddy bear."_

_Pushing the younger daughter of Athena back out of the hug, Naruto spoke softly, "Annie, I need to go kill Luke, you stay here for a second."_

_Annabeth giggled as Naruto stood and then ran at the other boy, who yelped impressively before he turned tail and ran, leaving her alone with the equally amused Thalia. Annabeth's giggles died down and Thalia shook her head, looking to the younger girl with a smile, "Boys, am I right?"_

_Annabeth looked at Thalia with a small frown, making the older girl furrow her brow, "Hey, are you okay?"_

* * *

"Then it gets a little fuzzy," Annabeth said apologetically to the group, making them sigh in disappointment. The daughter of Athena smiled reassuringly, "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure I was just a little nervous at being alone with Thalia."

What the others didn't know was that this was a lie that Annabeth had made up when she realized what she was feeling years after it happened. Annabeth thought back with small pink-tinted cheeks at her possessiveness of Naruto.

* * *

___ Annabeth had a glare locked on the older girl, one of accusation as she related the interactions between Naruto and Thalia to the brief interactions Naruto had with a minor goddess Eirene back in San Francisco. The goddess of peace had offered to help Annabeth get to a safe place as long as Naruto stayed with her in San Francisco, insisting that he had had enough fighting in his life already. Naruto declined kindly, but after that meeting Annabeth was wary of other older fluzzies -she didn't know how to properly say or think floozy at the time- around her brother._

_"Don't think I don't know what you're up to!" Annabeth announced accusingly, "You're trying to take Naruto away!"_

_"W-what?" Thalia asked in surprise, her cheeks flushing, "No I'm not!"_

_"Yeah you are!" The young blonde girl exclaimed with a scowl on her face, "He's my brother and you can't have him!"_

_"I **don't** want him!" Thalia groaned as her cheeks darkened._

_"You do so!" Annabeth retorted as her eyes narrowed, "You're just lying so that when you take him away it'll look like he wanted to go!"_

_"Where are you getting this information?" Thalia asked, "Because it's wrong!"_

_"I'm not wrong, you're just trying to throw me off guard!" Annabeth announced with a pout, "You're trying to take him away from me, well Naruto belongs to me, he's my big brother and not anyone else's, got that?"_

_"Wow, really making some assumptions aren't you?" Thalia asked. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Thalia tiredly tried to explain, "Listen Annabeth, I don't want Naruto to be my big brother and I don't want to take him away from you."_

_"You're lying!" insisted the daughter of Athena.  
_

_"No I'm not!" Thalia shouted out; a bolt of lightning landing behind her as her emotions got the best of her. Annabeth jumped slightly, but stood her ground. The two glared at each other before Thalia sighed and said, "Look, Annabeth, you're a sweet girl. You obviously care about Naruto a lot and he cares about you. If it makes you feel better, I'll stop talking to him."_

_"Good!" Annabeth said with a firm nod._

_"But that doesn't mean I'll ignore him if he talks to me first," Thalia added._

_Annabeth pouted but crossed her arms, "Fine."_

* * *

"Can't say I blame you," Percy interjected, snapping Annabeth from the rest of the memory as he took another sip of his Mountain Dew. Setting the now empty can down, the son of Poseidon looked at Eurytion and asked, "Do you have an idea of how to find Hephaestus?"

"You're asking the right guy," the son of Ares replied. Grinning at the two, he continued, "Well, can't say I do want to give this gift up, but I figure you guys can use it more than me. Not to mention that I owe the both of you for taking care of the carnivorous steeds' crap and killing Geryon."

Eurytion left the group of five and went to the shed, quickly returning with something in his hand that made Annabeth cry out in surprise, "SPIDER!"

"Easy, easy!" the son of Ares said as he set the small machine down on the table. The still unnerved daughter of Athena looked at the machine warily while Eurytion said, "This little thing should lead you right to my uncle. He gave it to me after I helped him prank my father."

"That sounds like an interesting story," Percy said, only to get nudged by Annabeth.

The daughter of Athena looked for a brief second at the spider before looking at the herdsman with an apologetic smile, "Thank you, Eurytion, but we really need to get going."

She then looked at the spider again, her heart racing as she did. Just because it was not real did not mean it wasn't as terrifying.

"I'll take it," Nico said as he rolled his eyes at Annabeth's reaction to the small guide. The son of Hades took the metallic spider and the five departed from Triple G Ranch the way that they came, leaving behind an amused Eurytion who then turned and went back to taking care of his uncle's cattle. Properly, that is.

* * *

**AN: And so Annabeth has killed Geryon! Will we see more of Thalia and Annabeth's interestingly rough beginning? Did Naruto ever catch on to the game that was being played? Did Luke? What hijinks will Naruto's group have to deal with in the next chapter? Can I keep these longer chapters going?**

**In order to find out you have only one thing to do,**

**REVIEW!**


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